THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


"WOOD     MAGIC 


WOOD    MAGIC; 


Jfable, 


BY 

RICHARD     JEFFERIES, 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  GAMEKEEPER  AT  HOME,"  "WILD  LIFE  IN  A  SOUTHERN 

COUNTY,"  "THE  AMATEUR  POACHER,"  "  GREENE  FERNE 

FARM,"  "HODGE  AND  HIS  MASTERS,"  "ROUND 

ABOUT  A  GREAT  ESTATE." 


TOL.  /. 


CASSELL,  FETTER,  GALPIN  &  Co. 

LONDON,   PARIS  $  NEW  TOME. 


1881. 
[ALL  BIGHTS  RESERVED.] 


fernkir  to  fearoltr. 


tZf*r:t 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  SIR  BEVIS 1 

II.  AT  HOME         .        .      -  .        .    *    .        .        .         .        .22 

III.  ADVENTURES  OF  THB  WEASEL          .        .        .         .         .47 

IV.  BROOK-FOLK 88 

V.  KAPCHACK Ill 

VI.  THE  SQUIRREL         .      • 134 

VII.  THE  COURTIERS •        .        .161 

VIII.  THE  EMPEROR  CHOO  Hoo  .  203 


WOOD   MAGIC. 


CHAPTER    I. 

SIR   BEVIS. 

ONE  morning  as  little  "  Sir "  Bevis  [such  was  his 
pet  name]  was  digging  in  the  farmhouse  garden, 
he  saw  a  daisy,  and  throwing  aside  his  spade,  he 
sat  down  on  the  grass  to  pick  the  flower  to  pieces. 
He  pulled  the  pink-tipped  petals  off  one  by  one, 
and  as  they  dropped  they  were  lost.  Next  he 
gathered  a  bright  dandelion,  and  squeezed  the  white 
juice  from  the  hollow  stem,  which  drying  presently, 
left  his  fingers  stained  with  brown  spots.  Then  he 
drew  forth  a  bennet  from  its  sheath,  and  bit  and 
sucked  it  till  his  teeth  were  green  from  the  sap. 
Lying  at  full  length,  he  drummed  the  earth  with  his 
toes,  while  the  tall  grass  blades  tickled  his  cheeks. 

Presently,  rolling  on  his  back,  he  drummed  again 
with  his  heels.     He  looked  up  at  the  blue  sky,  but 


X  WOOD    MAGIC. 

only  for  a  moment,  because  the  glare  of  light  was 
too  strong  in  his  eyes.  After  a  minute,  he  turned 
on  his  side,  thrust  out  one  arm,  placed  his  head  on 
it,  and  drew  up  one  knee,  as  if  going  to  sleep. 
His  little  brown  wrist,  bared  by  the  sleeve  shorten- 
ing as  he  extended  his  arm,  bent  down  the  grass, 
and  his  still  browner  fingers  played  with  the  blades, 
and  every  now  and  then  tore  one  off. 

A  flutter  of  wings  sounded  among  the  blossom 
on  an  apple-tree  close  by,  and  instantly  Bevis  sat 
up,  knowing  it  must  be  a  goldfinch  thinking  of 
building  a  nest  in  the  branches.  If  the  trunk  of 
the  tree  had  not  been  so  big,  he  would  have  tried 
to  climb  it  at  once,  but  he  knew  he  could  not  do 
it,  nor  could  he  see  the  bird  for  the  leaves  and 
bloom.  A  puff  of  wind  came  and  showered  the 
petals  down  upon  him ;  they  fell  like  snowflakes  on 
his  face  and  dotted  the  grass. 

Buzz !  A  great  humble-bee,  with  a  band  of  red 
gold  across  his  back,  flew  up,  and  hovered  near, 
wavering  to  and  fro  in  the  air  as  he  stayed  to 
look  at  a  flower. 

Buzz  !  Bevis  listened,  and  knew  very  well  what 
he  was  saying.  It  was,  "This  is  a  sweet  little 


SIR    BE  VIS.  3 

garden,  my  darling ;  a  very  pleasant  garden ;  all 
grass  and  daisies,  and  apple-trees,  and  narrow  patches 
with  flowers  and  fruit-trees  one  side,  and  a  wall 
and  currant-bushes  another  side,  and  a  low  box- 
hedge  and  a  haha,  where  you  can  see  the  high 
mowing  grass  quite  underneath  you ;  and  a  round 
summer-house  in  the  corner,  painted  as  blue  inside 
as  a  hedge-sparrow's  egg  is  outside;  and  then 
another  haha  with  iron  railings,  which  you  are 
always  climbing  up,  Bevis,  on  the  fourth  side, 
with  stone  steps  leading  down  to  a  meadow,  where 
the  cows  are  feeding,  and  where  they  have  left 
all  the  buttercups  standing  as  tall  as  your  waist, 
sir.  The  gate  in  the  iron  railings  is  not  fastened, 
and  besides,  there  is  a  gap  in  the  box-hedge,  and 
it  is  easy  to  drop  down  the  haha  wall,  but  that 
is  mowing  grass  there.  You  know  very  well  you 
could  not  come  to  any  harm  in  the  meadow ; 
they  said  you  were  not  to  go  outside  the  garden, 
but  that's  all  nonsense,  and  very  stupid.  /  am 
going  outside  the  garden,  Bevis.  Good  morning, 
dear/'  Buzz  !  And  the  great  humble  -  bee  flew 
'slowly  between  the  iron  railings,  out  among  the 

buttercups,  and  away  up  the  field. 
B  2 


4  WOOD    MAGIC. 

Bevis  went  to  the  railings,  and  stood  on  the 
lowest  bar ;  then  he  opened  the  gate  a  little  way, 
but  it  squeaked  so  loud  upon  its  rusty  hinges  that 
he  let  it  shut  again.  He  walked  round  the  garden 
along  beside  the  box-hedge  to  the  patch  by  the 
lilac  trees;  they  were  single  lilacs,  which  are  much 
more  beautiful  than  the  double,  and  all  bowed  down 
with  a  mass  of  bloom.  Some  rhubarb  grew  there, 
and  to  bring  it  up  the  faster,  they  had  put  a 
round  wooden  box  on  it,  hollowed  out  from  the 
sawn  butt  of  an  elm,  which  was  rotten  within  and 
easily  scooped.  The  top  was  covered  with  an  old 
board,  and  every  time  that  Bevis  passed  he  lifted 
up  the  corner  of  the  board  and  peeped  in,  to  see 
if  the  large  red,  swelling  knobs  were  yet  bursting. 

One  of  these  round  wooden  boxes  had  been  split 
and  spoilt,  and  half  of  it  was  left  lying  with  the 
hollow  part  downwards.  Under  this  shelter  a  Toad 
had  his  house.  Bevis  peered  in  at  him,  and  touched 
him  with  a  twig  to  make  him  move  an  inch  or 
two,  for  he  was  so  lazy,  and  sat  there  all  day 
long,  except  when  it  rained.  Sometimes  the  Toad 
told  him  a  story,  but  not  very  often,  for  he  was 
a  silent  old  philosopher,  and  not  very  fond  of  any- 


SIR    BEVIS.  0 

body.  He  had  a  nephew,  quite  a  lively  young 
fellow,  in  the  cucumber  frame  on  the  other  side 
of  the  lilac  bushes,  at  whom  Bevis  also  peered 
nearly  every  day  after  they  had  lifted  the  frame 
and  propped  it  up  with  wedges. 

The  gooseberries  were  no  bigger  than  beads,  but 
he  tasted  two,  and  then  a  thrush  began  to  sing  on 
an  ash-tree  in  the  hedge  of  the  meadow.  "  Bevis  ! 
Bevis ! "  said  the  thrush,  and  he  turned  round  to 
listen :  "  My  dearest  Bevis,  have  you  forgotten  the 
meadow,  and  the  buttercups,  and  the  sorrel?  You 
know  the  sorrel,  don't  you,  that  tastes  so  pleasant 
if  you  nibble  the  leaf?  And  I  have  a  nest  in  the 
bushes,  not  very  far  up  the  hedge,  and  you  may 
take  just  one  egg ;  there  are  only  two  yet.  But 
don't  tell  any  more  boys  about  it,  or  we  shall  not 
have  one  left.  That  is  a  very  sweet  garden,  but  it 
is  very  small.  I  like  all  these  fields  to  fly  about  in, 
and  the  swallows  fly  ever  so  much  farther  than  I 
can ;  so  far  away  and  so  high,  that  I  cannot  tell 
you  how  they  find  their  way  home  to  the  chimney. 
But  they  will  tell  you,  if  you  ask  them.  Good 
morning !  /  am  going  over  the  brook." 

Bevis  went   to  the  iron  railings  and  got   up  two 


6  WOOD    MAGIC. 

bars,  and  looked  over;  but  he  could  not  yet  make 
up  his  mind,  so  he  went  inside  the  summer-house, 
which  had  one  small  round  window.  All  the  lower 
part  of  the  blue  walls  was  scribbled  and  marked 
with  pencil,  where  he  had  written  and  drawn,  and 
put  down  his  ideas  and  notes.  The  lines  were  some- 
what intermingled,  and  crossed  each  other,  and  some 
stretched  out  long  distances,  and  came  back  in  sharp 
angles.  But  Bevis  knew  very  well  what  he  meant 
when  he  wrote  it  all.  Taking  a  stump  of  cedar 
pencil  from  his  pocket,  one  end  of  it  much  gnawn, 
he  added  a  few  scrawls  to  the  inscriptions,  and 
then  stood  on  the  seat  to  look  out  of  the  round 
window,  which  was  darkened  by  an  old  cob-web. 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  very  cunning 
spider — a  very  cunning  spider  indeed.  The  old  Toad 
by  the  rhubarb  told  Bevis  there  had  not  been 
such  a  cunning  spider  for  many  summers ;  he  knew 
almost  as  much  about  flies  as  the  old  Toad,  and 
caught  such  a  great  number,  that  the  Toad  began 
to  think  there  would  be  none  left  for  him.  Now 
the  Toad  was  extremely  fond  of  flies,  and  he 
watched  the  spider  with  envy,  and  grew  more 
angry  about  it  every  day. 


SIR    BEVIS.  7 

As  he  sat  blinking  and  winking  by  the  rhubarb 
in  his  house  all  day  long,  the  Toad  never  left  off 
thinking,  thinking,  thinking  about  this  spider.  And 
as  he  kept  thinking,  thinking,  thinking,  so  he  told 
Bevis,  he  recollected  that  he  knew  a  great  deal 
about  a  good  many  other  things  besides  flies.  So 
one  day,  after  several  weeks  of  thinking,  he  crawled 
out  of  his  house  in  the  sunshine,  which  he  did 
not  like  at  all,  and  went  across  the  grass  to  the 
iron  railings,  where  the  spider  had  then  got  his 
web.  The  spider  saw  him  coming,  and  being  very 
proud  of  his  cleverness,  began  to  taunt  and  tease 
him. 

"  Your  back  is  all  over  warts,  and  you  are  an 
old  toad/'  he  said.  "  You  are  so  old,  that  I  heard 
the  swallows  saying  their  great,  great,  great  grand- 
mothers, when  they  built  in  the  chimney,  did  not 
know  when  you  were  born.  And  you  have  got 
foolish,  and  past  doing  anything,  and  so  stupid 
that  you  hardly  know  when  it  is  going  to  rain. 
Why,  the  sun  is  shining  bright,  you  stupid  old 
toad,  and  there  isn't  a  chance  of  a  single  drop 
falling.  You  look  very  ugly  down  there  in  the 
grass.  Now,  don't  you  wish  that  you  were  me, 


8  WOOD    MAGIC. 

and  could  catch  more  flies  than  you  could  eat? 
Why,  I  can  catch  wasps  and  bees,  and  tie  them 
up  so  tight  with  my  threads  that  they  cannot 
sting  nor  even  move  their  wings,  nor  so  much  as 
wriggle  their  bodies.  I  am  the  very  cleverest  and 
most  cunning  spider  that  ever  lived." 

"  Indeed,  you  are/'  replied  the  Toad.  "  I  have 
been  thinking  so  all  the  summer;  and  so  much  do 
I  admire  you,  that  I  have  come  all  this  way, 
across  in  the  hot  sun,  to  tell  you  something." 

"  Tell  me  something ! "  said  the  spider,  much 
offended.  "  /  know  everything." 

"  Oh,  yes,  honoured  BIT,"  said  the  Toad ;  "  you 
have  such  wonderful  eyes,  and  such  a  sharp  mind, 
it  is  true  that  you  know  everything  about  the  sun, 
and  the  moon,  and  the  earth,  and  flies.  But,  as 
you  have  studied  all  these  great  and  -important 
things,  you  could  hardly  see  all  the  very  little 
trifles  like  a  poor  old  toad." 

"  Oh  yes,  I  can.  I  know  everything  —  every- 
thing!" 

"  But,  sir,"  went  on  the  Toad  so  humbly,  "  this 
is  such  a  little — such  a  very  little  —  thing,  and  a 
spider  like  you  in  such  a  high  position  of  life, 


SIR    BEVIS.  9 

could  not  mind  me  telling  you  such  a  mere 
nothing." 

"  Well,  I  don't  mind/'  said  the  spider  — "  you 
may  go  on,  and  tell  me,  if  you  like/'' 

"The  fact  is,"  said  the  Toad,  "while  I  have 
been  sitting  in  my  hole,  I  have  noticed  that  such 
a  lot  of  the  flies  that  come  into  this  garden  pre- 
sently go  into  the  summer-house  there,  and  when 
they  are  in  the  summer-house,  they  always  go  to 
that  little  round  window,  which  is  sometimes  quite 
black  with  them ;  for  it  is  the  nature  of  flies  to 
buzz  over  glass." 

"I  do  not  know  so  much  about  that,"  said  the 
spider ;  "  for  I  have  never  lived  in  houses,  being 
an  independent  insect ;  but  it  is  possible  you  may 
be  right.  At  any  rate,  it  is  not  of  much  con- 
sequence. You  had  better  go  up  into  the  window, 
old  toad."  Now  this  was  a  sneer  on  the  part  of 
the  spider. 

"But  I  can't  climb  up  into  the  window/'  said 
the  Toad  ;  "all  I  can  do  is  to  crawl  about 
the  ground,  but  you  can  run  up  a  wall  quickly. 
How  I  do  wish  I  was  a  spider,  like  you.  Oh, 
dear ! "  And  then  the  Toad  turned  round,  after 


10  WOOD    MAGIC. 

bowing  to  the  clever  spider,  and  went  back  to  his 
hole. 

Now  the  spider  was  secretly  very  much  mor- 
tified and  angry  with  himself,  because  he  had  not 
noticed  this  about  the  flies  going  to  the  window 
in  the  summer-house.  At  first  he  said  to  himself 
that  it  was  not  true ;  but  he  could  not  help  looking 
that  way  now  and  then,  and  every  time  he  looked, 
there  was  the  window  crowded  with  flies.  They 
had  all  the  garden  to  buzz  about  in,  and  all  the 
fields,  but  instead  of  wandering  under  the  trees, 
and  over  the  flowers,  they  preferred  to  go  into  the 
summer-house  and  crawl  over  the  glass  of  the  little 
window,  though  it  was  very  dirty  from  so  many 
feet.  For  a  long  time,  the  spider  was  too  proud 
to  go  there  too;  but  one  day  such  a  splendid  blue- 
bottle fly  got  in  the  window  and  made  such  a 
tremendous  buzzing,  that  he  could  not  resist  it  any 
more. 

So  he  left  his  web  by  the  railings,  and  climbed 
up  the  blue-painted  wall,  over  Bevis's  writings  and 
marks,  and  spun  such  a  web  in  the  window  as  had 
never  before  been  seen.  It  was  the  largest  and 
the  finest,  and  the  most  beautifully-arranged  web 


SIR    BEVIS.  11 

that  had  ever  been  made,  and  it  caught  such  a 
number  of  flies  that  the  spider  grew  fatter  every 
day.  In  a  week's  time  he  was  so  big  that  he 
could  no  longer  hide  in  the  crack  he  had  chosen, 
he  was  quite  a  giant  ,  and  the  Toad  came  across 
the  grass  one  night  and  looked  at  him,  but  the 
spider  was  now  so  bloated  he  would  not  recognise 
the  Toad. 

But  one  morning  a  robin  came  to  the  iron 
railings,  and  perched  on  the  top,  and  put  his  head 
a  little  on  one  side,  to  show  his  black  eye  the  better. 
Then  he  flew  inside  the  summer-house,  alighted  in 
the  window,  and  gobbled  up  the  spider  in  an 
instant.  The  old  Toad  shut  his  eye  and  opened  it 
again,  and  went  on  thinking,  for  that  was  just  what 
he  knew  would  happen.  Ever  so  many  times  in 
his  very  long  life  he  had  seen  spiders  go  up 
there,  but  no  sooner  had  they  got  fat  than  a 
robin  or  a  wren  came  in  and  ate  them.  Some  of 
the  clever  spider's  web  was  there  still  when  Bevis 
looked  out  of  the  window,  all  dusty  and  draggled, 
with  the  skins  and  wings  of  some  gnats  and  a 
dead  leaf  entangled  in  it. 

As   he  looked,  a  white  butterfly   came  along  the 


12  WOOD    MAGIC. 

meadow,  and  instantly  he  ran  out,  flung  open  the 
gate,  rushed  down  the  steps,  and  taking  no  heed 
of  the  squeak  the  gate  made  as  it  shut  behind 
him,  raced  after  the  butterfly. 

The  tall  buttercups  brushed  his  knees,  and  bent 
on  either  side  as  if  a  wind  was  rushing  through 
them.  A  bennet  slipped  up  his  knickerbockers  and 
tickled  his  leg.  His  toes  only  touched  the  ground, 
neither  his  heels  nor  the  hollow  of  his  foot ;  and 
from  so  light  a  pressure  the  grass,  bowed  but  not 
crushed,  rose  up,  leaving  no  more  mark  of  his 
passage  than  if  a  grasshopper  had  gone  by. 

Daintily  fanning  himself  with  his  wings,  the 
butterfly  went  before  Bevis,  not  yet  knowing  that 
he  was  chased,  but  sauntering  along  just  above 
the  buttercups.  He  peeped  as  he  flew  under  the 
lids  of  the  flowers'  eyes,  to  see  if  any  of  them 
loved  him.  There  was  a  glossy  green  leaf  which 
he  thought  he  should  like  to  feel,  it  looked  so 
soft  and  satin-like.  So  he  alighted  on  it,  and 
then  saw  Bevis  coming,  his  hat  on  the  very  back 
of  his  head,  and  his  hand  stretched  out  to  catch 
him.  The  butterfly  wheeled  himself  round  on  the 
leaf,  shut  up  his  wings,  and  seemed  so  innocent, 


SIR    BEVIS.  13 

till  Bovis  fell  on  his  knee,  and  then  under  his 
fingers  there  was  nothing  but  the  leaf.  His  cheek 
flushed,  his  eye  lit  up,  and  away  he  darted  again 
after  the  butterfly,  which  had  got  several  yards 
ahead  before  he  could  recover  himself.  He  ran  now 
faster  than  ever. 

"  Race  on,"  said  the  buttercups ;  "  race  on,  Bevis ; 
that  butterfly  disdains  us  because  we  are  so  many, 
and  all  alike." 

"  Be  quick,"  said  a  great  moon-daisy  to  him  ; 
"catch  him,  dear.  I  asked  him  to  stay  and  tell  me 
a  story,  but  he  would  not." 

"  Never  mind  me,"  said  the  clover ;  "  you  may 
step  on  me  if  you  like,  love." 

"  But  just  look  at  me  for  a  moment,  pet,  as 
you  go  by,"  cried  the  purple  vetch  by  the  hedge. 

A  colt  in  the  field  seeing  Bevis  running  so  fast, 
thought  he  too  must  join  the  fun,  so  he  whisked 
his  tail,  stretched  his  long  floundering  legs,  and 
galloped  away.  Then  the  mare  whinnied  and  gal- 
loped too,  and  the  ground  shook  under  her  heavy 
hoofs.  The  cows  lifted  their  heads  from  gather- 
ing the  grass  close  round  the  slender  bennets,  and 
wondered  why  any  one  could  be  so  foolish  as  to 


14  WOOD    MAGIC. 

rush   about,  when  there  was   plenty  to    eat   and    no 
hurry. 

The  cunning  deceitful  butterfly,  so  soon  as  Bevis 
came  near,  turned  aside  and  went  along  a  furrow. 
Bevis  running  in  the  furrow,  caught  his  foot  in  the 
long  creepers  of  the  crowfoot,  and  fell  down  bump, 
and  pricked  his  hand  with  a  thistle.  Up  he  jumped 
again,  red  as  a  peony,  and  shouting  in  his  rage, 
ran  on  so  quickly  that  he  nearly  overtook  the 
butterfly.  But  they  were  now  nearer  the  other 
hedge.  The  butterfly,  frightened  at  the  shouting 
and  Bevis's  resolution,  rose  over  the  brambles,  and 
Bevis  stopping  short  flung  his  hat  at  him.  The 
hat  did  not  hit  the  butterfly,  but  the  wind  it 
made  puffed  him  round,  and  so  frightened  him, 
that  he  flew  up  half  as  high  as  the  elms,  and 
went  into  the  next  field. 

When  Bevis  looked  down,  there  was  his  hat, 
hung  on  a  branch  of  ash,  far  beyond  his  reach. 
He  could  not  touch  the  lowest  leaf,  jump  as 
much  as  he  would.  His  next  thought  was  a 
stone  to  throw,  but  there  were  none  in  the  meadow. 
Then  he  put  his  hand  in  his  jacket  pocket  for  his 
knife,  to  cut  a  long  stick.  It  was  not  in  that  pocket, 


SIB,    BEVIS.  ]5 

nor  in  the  one  on  the  other  side,  nor  in  his 
knickers.  Now  the  knife  was  Bevis's  greatest  trea- 
sure— his  very  greatest.  He  looked  all  round  be- 
wildered, and  the  tears  rose  in  his  eyes. 

Just  then  Pan,  the  spaniel,  who  had  worked 
his  head  loose  from  the  collar  and  followed  him, 
ran  out  of  the  hedge  between  Bevis's  legs  with 
such  joyful  force,  that  Bevis  was  almost  overthrown, 
and  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter.  Pan  ran  back 
into  the  hedge  to  hunt,  and  Bevis,  with  tears 
rolling  down  his  cheeks  into  the  dimples  made  by 
his  smiles,  dropped  on  hands  and  knees  and  crept 
in  after  the  dog  under  the  briars.  On  the  bank 
there  was  a  dead  grey  stick,  a  branch  that  had 
fallen  from  the  elms.  It  was  heavy,  but  Bevis 
heaved  it  up,  and  pushed  it  through  the  boughs 
and  thrust  his  hat  off. 

Creeping  out  again,  he  put  it  on,  and  remem- 
bering his  knife,  walked  out  into  the  field  to 
search  for  it.  When  Pan  missed  him,  he  followed, 
and  presently  catching  scent  of  a  rabbit,  the  spaniel 
rushed  down  a  furrow,  which  happened  to  be  the 
very  furrow  where  Bevis  had  tumbled.  Going  after 
Pan,  Bevis  found  his  knife  in  the  grass,  where  it 


16  WOOD  MAGIC. 

had  dropped  when  shaken  from  his  pocket  by  the 
jerk  of  his  fall.  He  opened  the  single  blade  it 
contained  at  once,  and  went  back  to  the  hedge  to 
cut  a  stick.  As  he  walked  along  the  hedge,  he 
thought  the  briar  was  too  prickly  to  cut,  and  the 
thorn  was  too  hard,  and  the  ash  was  too  big,  and 
the  willow  had  no  knob,  and  the  elder  smelt  so 
strong,  and  the  sapling  oak  was  across  the  ditch, 
and  out  of  reach,  and  the  maple  had  such  rough 
bark.  So  -  he  wandered  along  a  great  way  through 
that  field  and  the  next,  and  presently  saw  a  nut- 
tree  stick  that  promised  well,  for  the  sticks  grew 
straight,  and  not  too  big. 

He  jumped  into  the  ditch,  climbed  half  up  the 
mound,  and  began  to  cut  away  at  one  of  the  rods, 
leaning  his  left  arm  on  the  moss-grown  stole. 
The  bark  was  easily  cut  through,  and  he  soon 
made  a  notch,  but  then  the  wood  seemed  to  grow 
harder,  and  the  chips  he  got  out  were  very  small. 
The  harder  the  wood,  the  more  determined  Bevis 
became,  and  he  cut  and  worked  away  with  such 
force  that  his  chest  heaved,  his  brow  was  set  and 
frowning,  and  his  jacket  all  green  from  rubbing 
against  the  hazel.  Suddenly  something  passed  be- 


SIR    BEVIS.  17 

tween  him  and  the  light.  He  looked  up,  and 
there  was  Pan,  whom  he  had  forgotten,  in  the 
hedge  looking  down  at  him.  "  Pan !  Pan ! "  cried 
Bevis.  Pan  wagged  his  tail,  but  ran  back,  and 
Bevis,  forsaking  his  stick,  scrambled  up  into  the 
stole,  then  into  the  mound,  and  through  a  gap 
into  the  next  field.  Pan  was  nowhere  to  be 
seen. 

There  was  a  large  mossy  root  under  a  great 
oak,  and,  hot  with  his  cutting,  Bevis  sat  down 
upon  it.  Along  came  a  house  martin,  the  kind 
of  swallow  that  has  a  white  band  across  his  back, 
flying  very  low,  and  only  just  above  the  grass.  The 
swallow  flew  to  and  fro  not  far  from  Bevis,  who 
watched  it,  and  presently  asked  him  to  come  closer. 
But  the  swallow  said,  "  I  shall  not  come  any  nearer, 
Bevis.  Don't  you  remember  what  you  did  last  year, 
sir?  Don't  you  remember  Bill,  the  carters'  boy,  put 
a  ladder  against  the  wall,  and  you  climbed  up  the 
ladder,  and  put  your  paw,  all  brown  and  dirty,  into 
my  nest  and  took  my  eggs  ?  And  you  tried  to 
string  them  on  a  bennet,  but  the  bennet  was  too 
big,  so  you  went  indoors  for  some  thread.  And  you 
made  my  wife  and  me  dreadfully  unhappy,  and  we 


18  WOOD    MAGIC. 

said  we  would    never    come    back  any  more  to    your 
house,  Bevis." 

"  But  you  have  come  back,  swallow." 
"  Yes,  we  have  come  back — just  once  more ;  but 
if  you  do  it  again  we  shall  go  away  for  ever/' 

"  But  I  won't  do  it  again  ;  no,  that  I  won't  ! 
Do  come  near." 

So  the  swallow  came  a  little  nearer,  only  two 
yards  away,  and  flew  backwards  and  forwards,  and 
Bevis  could  hear  the  snap  of  his  beak  as  he  caught 
the  flies. 

"  Just  a  little  bit  nearer  still/'  said  he.  "  Let 
me  stroke  your  lovely  white  back." 

"Oh,  no,  I  can't  do  that.  I  don't  think  you 
are  quite  safe,  Bevis.  Why  don't  you  gather  the 
cowslips  ?  " 

Bevis  looked  up  and  saw  that  the  field  was  full 
of  cowslips  —  yellow  with  cowslips.  "  I  will  pick 
every  one,"  said  he,  "  and  carry  them  all  back  to 
my  mother." 

"  You  cannot  do  that,"  said  the  swallow,  laughing, 
"  you  will  not  try  long  enough." 

"  I  hate  you  ! "  cried  Bevis  in  a  passion,  and 
flung  his  knife,  which  was  in  his  hand,  at  the  bird. 


SIR    BEVIS.  19 

The  swallow  rose  up,  and  the  knife  whizzed  by  and 
struck  the  ground. 

"  I  told  you  you  were  not  safe,"  said  the  swallow 
over  his  head ;  "  and  I  am  sure  you  won't  pick  half 
the  cowslips." 

Bevis  picked  up  his  knife  and  put  it  in  his  pocket ; 
then  he  began  to  gather  the  cowslips,  and  kept 
on  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  as  fast  as  ever  he  could, 
till  both  hands  were  full.  There  was  a  rustle  in  the 
hedge,  and  looking  up  he  saw  Pan  come  out,  all 
brown  with  sand  sticking  to  his  coat.  He  shook 
himself,  and  sent  the  sand  flying  from  him  in  a 
cloud,  just  like  he  did  with  the  water  when  he  came 
up  out  of  the  pond.  Then  he  looked  at  Bevis, 
wagged  his  tail,  cried  "  yowp  \"  and  ran  back  into 
the  hedge  again. 

Bevis  rushed  to  the  spot,  and  saw  that  there 
was  a  large  rabbits'  hole.  Into  this  hole  Pan  had 
worked  his  way  so  far  that  there  was  nothing  of 
him  visible  but  his  hind  legs  and  tail.  Bevis  could 
hear  him  panting  in  the  hole,  he  was  working  so 
hard  to  get  at  the  rabbit,  and  tearing  with  his  teeth 
at  the  roots  to  make  the  hole  bigger.  Bevis  clapped 
his  hands,  dropping  his  cowslips,  and  called  "  Loo  ! 


20  WOOD    MAGIC. 

Loo  I"  urging  the  dog  on.  The  sand  came  flying 
out  behind  Pan,  and  he  worked  harder  and  harder, 
as  if  he  would  tear  the  mound  to  pieces. 

Bevis  sat  down  on  the  grass  under  the  shadow 
of  the  oak,  by  a  maple  bush,  and  taking  a  cowslip, 
began  to  count  the  spots  inside  it.  It  was  always 
five  in  all  the  cowslips — five  brown  little  spots — that 
he  was  sure  of,  because  he  knew  he  had  five  fingers 
on  each  hand.  He  lay  down  at  full  length  on  his 
back,  and  looked  up  at  the  sky  through  the  boughs 
of  the  oak.  It  was  very  very  blue,  and  very  near 
down.  With  a  long  ladder  he  knew  he  could  have 
got  up  there  easily,  and  it  looked  so  sweet.  "  Sky," 
said  Bevis,  "I  love  you  like  I  love  my  mother." 
He  pouted  his  lips,  and  kissed  at  it.  Then  turning 
a  little  on  one  side  to  watch  Pan,  in  an  instant  he 
fell  firm  asleep. 

Pan  put  his  head  out  of  the  hole  to  breathe  two 
or  three  times,  and  looked  aside  at  Bevis,  and  seeing 
that  he  was  still,  went  back  to  work  again.  Two 
butterflies  came  fluttering  along  together.  The  swal- 
low returned,  and  flew  low  down  along  the  grass 
near  Bevis.  The  wind  came  now  and  then,  and 
shook  down  a  shower  of  white  and  pink  petals  from 


SIR    BEVIS.  21 

a  crab-tree  in  the  hedge.  By  and  by  a  squirrel 
climbing  from  tree  to  tree  reached  the  oak,  and 
stayed  to  look  at  Bevis  beneath  in  the  shadow.  He 
knew  exactly  how  Bevis  felt — just  like  he  did  him- 
self when  he  went  to  sleep. 


CHAPTER   II. 

AT   HOME. 

"  YOWP,  yow ;  wow-wow !  "  The  yelling  of  Pan 
woke  Bevis,  who  jumped  up,  and  seeing  the  Bailiff 
beating  the  spaniel  with  a  stick,  instantly,  and  with- 
out staying  the  tenth  of  a  second  to  rub  his  eyes  or 
stretch  himself,  rushed  at  the  man  and  hit  him  with 
his  doubled  fists.  As  if  he  had  seen  it  in  his  sleep, 
Bevis  understood  what  was  taking  place  immediately 
his  eye-lids  opened.  So  the  Bailiff  beat  the  dog,  and 
Bevis  beat  the  Bailiff.  The  noise  made  quite  an 
echo  against  the  thick  hedges  and  a  high  bank 
that  was  near.  When  the  Bailiff  thought  he  had 
thrashed  Pan  sufficiently,  he  turned  round  and  looked 
down  at  Bevis,  whose  face  was  red,  and  his  knuckles 
sore  with  striking  the  Bailiffs  hard  coat. 

"How  fess  you  be,  measter,"  said  the  Bailiff 
(meaning  fierce) ,  "  you  mind  as  you  don't  hurt  your- 
self. Look'ee  here,  there've  bin  a  fine  falarie  about 
you,  zur/'  He  meant  that  there  had  been  much 


AT     HOME.  '23 

excitement  when  it  was  found  that  Bevis  was  not  iii 
the  garden,  and  was  nowhere  to  be  found.  Every- 
body was  set  to  hunt  for  him. 

First  they  thought  of  the  brook,  lest  he  should 
have  walked  in  among  the  flags  that  were  coming 
up  so  green  and  strong.  Then  they  thought  of  the 
tallet  over  the  stable, — perhaps  he  had  climbed  up 
there  again  from  the  manger,  over  the  heads  of  the 
great  cart-horses,  quietly  eating  their  hay,  while  he 
put  his  foot  on  the  manger  and  then  on  the  project- 
ing steps  in  the  corner,  and  into  the  hayrack — and 
so  up.  He  had  done  it  once  before,  and  could  not 
get  down,  and  so  the  tallet  was  searched.  One  man 
was  sent  to  the  Longpond,  with  orders  to  look  every- 
where, and  borrow  the  punt  and  push  in  among  the 
bulrushes. 

Another  was  despatched  to  the  Close,  to  gruffly 
enquire  where  the  cottage  boys  were,  and  what 
they  had  been  doing,  for  Bevis  was  known  to  hanker 
after  their  company,  to  go  catching  loach  under  the 
stones  in  the  stream  that  crossed  the  road,  and  creep- 
ing under  the  arch  of  the  bridge,  and  taking  the 
moorhens'  eggs  from  the  banks  of  the  ponds  where 
the  rushes  were  thick.  Another  was  put  on  the  pony, 


24  WOOD    MAGIC. 

to  gallop  up  the  road  after  the  carter  and  his 
waggon,  for  he  had  set  off  that  morning  with  a  load 
of  hay  for  the  hills  that  could  be  seen  to  the  south- 
ward. 

Running  over  every  possible  thing  that  Bevis 
could  have  done  in  his  mind,  his  papa  remembered 
that  he  had  lately  taken  to  asking  about  the  road, 
and  would  not  be  satisfied  till  they  had  taken  him 
up  to  the  sign -post — a  mile  beyond  the  village,  and 
explained  the  meaning  of  it.  Some  one  had  told 
him  that  it  was  the  road  to  Southampton — the  place 
where  the  ships  came.  Now,  Bevis  was  full  of  the 
ships,  drawing  them  on  the  blue  wall  of  the  summer- 
house,  and  floating  a  boat  on  the  trough  in  the 
cow-yard,  and  looking  wistfully  up  the  broad  dusty 
highway,  as  if  he  could  see  the  masts  and  yards  sixty 
miles  away  or  more.  Perhaps  when  the  carter  went 
with  the  waggon  that  way,  Bevis  had  slipped  up  the 
footpath  that  made  a  short  cut  across  the  fields,  and 
joined  the  waggon  at  the  cross  roads,  that  he  might 
ride  to  the  hills  thinking  to  see  the  sea  on  the  other 
side. 

And   the  Bailiff,  not   to   be   behindhand,  having 
just  come  in  for  his   lunch,  ran  out   again    without 


AT    HOME.  25 

so  much  as  wetting  his  stubbly  white  beard  in  the 
froth  of  the  drawn  quart  of  ale,  and  made  away  as 
fast  as  his  stiff  legs  could  carry  him  to  where  there 
was  a  steam  ploughing  engine  at  work — a  mile  dis- 
tant. The  sight  of  the  white  steam,  and  the  hum- 
ming of  the  fly-wheel,  always  set  Bevis  "on  the  jig/' 
as  the  village  folk  called  it,  to  get  to  the  machinery, 
and  the  smell  of  the  cotton  waste  and  oil  wafted  on 
the  wind  was  to  him  like  the  scent  of  battle  to  the 
war-horse. 

But  Bevis  was  not  in  the  tallet,  nor  the  brook, 
nor  among  the  bulrushes  of  the  Longpond,  nor  under 
the  bridge  dabbling  for  loach,  nor  watching  the  steam 
plough,  and  the  cottage  boys  swore  their  hardest 
(and  they  knew  how  to  swear  quite  properly)  that 
they  had  not  seen  him  that  morning.  But  they 
would  look  for  him,  and  forthwith  eagerly  started 
to  scour  the  fields  and  hedges.  Meantime,  Bevis, 
quite  happy,  was  sleeping  under  the  oak  in  the 
shadow,  with  Pan  every  now  and  then  coming  out  of 
the  rabbit-hole  to  snort  out  the  sand  that  got  into 
his  nostrils. 

But,  by-and-by,  when  everything  had  been  done 
and  everybody  was  scattered  over  the  earth  seeking 


26  WOOD    MAGIC. 

for  him,  the  Bailiff  came  back  from  the  steam  plough, 
weary  with  running,  and  hungry,  thirsty,  and  cross. 
As  he  passed  through  the  yard  he  caught  a  glimpse  of 
Pan's  kennel,  which  was  a  tub  by  the  wood  pile,  and 
saw  that  the  chain  was  lying  stretched  to  its  full 
length.  Pan  was  gone.  At  first  the  Bailiff  thought 
Bevis  had  loosed  him,  and  that  he  had  got  a  clue. 
But  when  he  came  near,  he  saw  that  the  collar  was 
not  unbuckled;  Pan  had  worked  his  head  out,  and 
so  escaped. 

The  Bailiff  turned  the  collar  over  thoughtfully 
with  his  foot,  and  felt  his  scanty  white  beard  with 
his  hard  hand ;  and  then  he  went  back  to  the  cart- 
house.  Up  in  the  cart-house,  on  the  ledge  of  the  wall 
beneath  the  thatch,  there  were  three  or  four  sticks, 
each  about  four  feet  long  and  as  thick  as  your  thumb, 
with  the  bark  on — some  were  ground  ash,  some  crab- 
tree,  and  one  was  hazel.  This  one  was  straight  and 
as  hard  as  could  be.  These  sticks  were  put  there 
for  the  time  when  the  cows  were  moved,  so  that  the 
men  might  find  their  sticks  quick.  Each  had  his 
stick,  and  the  Bailiffs  was  the  hazel  one.  With  the 
staff  in  his  hand  the  Bailiff  set  out  straight  across 
the  grass,  looking  neither  to  the  right  nor  the 


AT    HOME.  27 

left,   but    walking    deliberately   and   without    hesita- 
tion. 

He  got  through  a  gap  in  one  hedge,  and  then  he 
turned  to  the  corner  making  towards  the  rabbit- 
burrows,  for  he  guessed  that  Pan  had  gone  there.  As 
he  approached  he  saw  Bevis  sleeping,  and  smiled, 
for  looking  for  the  dog  he  had  found  the  boy.  But 
first  stepping  softly  up  to  Bevis,  and  seeing  that  he 
was  quite  right  and  unhurt,  only  asleep,  the  Bailiff 
went  to  the  hedge  and  thrust  his  staff  into  the  hole 
where  Pan  was  at  work. 

Out  came  Pan,  and  instantly  down  came  the 
rod.  Pan  cowered  in  the  grass ;  he  was  all  over 
sand,  which  flew  up  in  a  cloud  as  the  rod  struck 
him  again.  "Yowp!  yow — wow — wow  \"  and  this 
row  awoke  Bevis. 

Bevis  battled  hard  for  his  dog,  but  the  Bailiff 
had  had  his  lunch  delayed,  and  his  peace  of  mind 
upset  about  the  boy,  and  he  was  resolutely  relieving 
himself  upon  the  spaniel.  Now  the  hazel  rod  being 
dry  and  stiff,  was  like  a  bar  of  iron,  and  did  not 
yield  or  bend  in  the  least,  but  made  the  spaniel's 
ribs  rattle.  Pan  could  not  get  low  enough  into  the 
grass;  he  ceased  to  howl,  so  great  was  the  pain, 


28  WOOD    MAGIC. 

but  merely  whimpered,  and  the  tears  filled  his  brown 
eyes.  At  last  the  Bailiff  ceased,  and  immediately 
Bevis  pulled  out  his  handkerchief,  and  sat  down  on 
the  grass  and  wiped  away  the  spaniel's  tears. 

"  Now,  measter,  you  come  along  wi'  I,"  said  the 
Bailiff,  taking  his  hand.  Bevis  would  not  come, 
saying  he  hated  him.  But  when  the  Bailiff  told 
him  about  the  hunt  there  had  been,  and  how  the 
people  were  everywhere  looking  for  him,  Bevis  began 
to  laugh,  thinking  it  was  rare  fun. 

"  Take  me  '  pick-a-back/  "  said  he. 

So  the  Bailiff  stooped  and  took  him.  "Gee-up!" 
said  Bevis,  punching  his  broad  back  and  kicking 
him  to  go  faster.  Pan,  now  quite  forgotten,  crept 
along  behind  them. 

Bevis  listened  to  the  lecture  they  gave  him  at 
home  with  a  very  bad  grace.  He  sulked  and  pouted, 
as  if  he  had  himself  been  the  injured  party.  But 
no  sooner  was  he  released  from  the  dinner-table, 
than  he  was  down  on  his  knees  at  his  own  particular 
corner  cupboard,  the  one  that  had  been  set  apart  for 
his  toys  and  things  ever  since  he  could  walk.  It 
was  but  a  small  cupboard,  made  across  the  angle 
of  two  walls,  and  with  one  shelf  only,  yet  it 


AT    HOME.  29 

was  bottomless,  and  always  contained  something 
new. 

There  were  the  last  fragments  of  the  great  box 
of  wooden  bricks,  cut  and  chipped,  and  notched  and 
splintered  by  that  treasure,  his  pocket-knife.  There 
was  the  tin  box  for  the  paste,  or  the  worms  in 
moss,  when  he  went  fishing.  There  was  the  wheel 
of  his  old  wheelbarrow,  long  since  smashed  and  num- 
bered with  the  Noah's  arks  that  have  gone  the  usual 
way.  There  was  the  brazen  cylinder  of  a  miniature 
steam-engine  bent  out  of  all  shape.  There  was  the 
hammer-head  made  specially  for  him  by  the  black- 
smith down  in  the  village,  without  a  handle,  for 
people  were  tired  of  putting  new  handles  to  it,  he 
broke  them  so  quickly.  There  was  a  horse-shoe,  and 
the  iron  catch  of  a  gate,  and  besides  these  a  boxwood 
top,  which  he  could  not  spin,  but  which  he  had  paid 
away  half  the  savings  in  his  money-box  for,  because 
he  had  seen  it  split  the  other  boys'  tops  in  the  road. 

In  one  corner  was  a  brass  cannon,  the  touch- 
hole  blackened  by  the  explosion  of  gunpowder,  and 
by  it  the  lock  of  an  ancient  pistol — the  lock  only, 
and  neither  barrel  nor  handle.  An  old  hunting  crop, 
some  feathers  from  pheasants'  tails,  part  of  a  mole- 


30  WOOD    MAGIC. 

trap,  an  old  brazen  bugle,  much  battered,  a  wooden 
fig-box  full  of  rusty  nails,  several  scraps  of  deal 
board  and  stumps  of  cedar  pencil  were  heaped  to- 
gether in  confusion.  But  these  were  not  all,  nor 
could  any  written  inventory  exhaust  the  contents, 
and  give  a  perfect  list  of  all  that  cupboard  held. 
There  was  always  something  new  in  it :  Bevis  never 
went  there,  but  he  found  something. 

With  the  hunting  crop  he  followed  the  harriers 
and  chased  the  doubling  hare ;  with  the  cannon  he 
fought  battles,  such  as  he  saw  in  the  pictures ;  the 
bugle,  too,  sounded  the  charge  (the  Bailiff  sometimes 
blew  it  in  the  garden  to  please  him,  and  the  hollow 
"  who-oo  ! "  it  made  echoed  over  the  fields)  ;  with 
the  deal  boards  and  the  rusty  nails,  and  the  ham- 
mer-head, he  built  houses,  and  even  cities.  The 
jagged  and  splintered  wooden  bricks,  six  inches  long, 
were  not  bricks,  but  great  beams  and  baulks  of  tim- 
ber ;  the  wheel  of  the  wheelbarrow  was  the  centre 
of  many  curious  pieces  of  mechanism.  He  could  see 
these  things  easily.  So  he  sat  down  at  his  cup- 
board and  forgot  the  lecture  instantly ;  the  pout  dis- 
appeared from  his  lips  as  he  plunged  his  hand  into 
the  inexhaustible  cupboard. 


AT    HOME.  31 

"  Bevis,  dear/'  he  heard  presently,  "  you  may 
have  an  apple." 

Instantly,  and  without  staying  to  shut  the  door 
on  his  treasures,  he  darted  upstairs — up  two  flights, 
with  a  clatter  and  a  bang,  burst  open  the  door, 
and  was  in  the  apple-room.  It  was  a  large  garret 
or  attic,  running  half  the  length  of  the  house, 
and  there,  in  the  autumn,  the  best  apples  from  the 
orchard  were  carried,  and  put  on  a  thin  layer  of  hay, 
each  apple  apart  from  its  fellow  (for  they  ought  not 
to  touch),  and  each  particular  sort,  the  Blenheim 
Oranges  and  the  King  Pippins,  the  Creepers  and 
the  Grindstone  Pippins  (which  grew  nowhere  else), 
divided  from  the  next  sort  by  a  little  fence  of 
hay. 

The  most  of  them  were  gone  now,  only  a  few  of 
the  keeping  apples  remained,  and  from  these  Bevis, 
with  great  deliberation,  chose  the  biggest,  measuring 
them  by  the  eye  and  weighing  them  in  his  hand. 
Then  down-stairs  again  with  a  clatter  and  a  bang, 
down  the  second  stairs  this  time,  past  the  gun- 
room, where  the  tools  were  kept,  and  a  carpenter's 
bench ;  then  through  the  whole  length  of  the  ground 
floor  from  the  kitchen  to  the  parlour,  slamming 


32  WOOD    MAGIC. 

every  door  behind  him,  and  kicking  over  the  chairs 
in  front  of  him. 

There  he  stayed  half  a  minute  to  look  at  the 
hornet's  nest  under  the  glass  case  on  the  mantel- 
piece. The  comb  was  built  round  a  central  pillar  or 
column,  three  stories  one  above  the  other,  and  it 
had  been  taken  from  the  willow  tree  by  the  brook, 
the  huge  hollow  willow  which  he  had  twice  tried  to 
chop  down,  that  he  might  make  a  boat  of  it.  Then 
out  of  doors,  and  up  the  yard,  and  past  the  cart- 
house,  when  something  moved  in  the  long  grass 
under  the  wall.  It  was  a  Weasel,  caught  in  a  gin. 

The  trap  had  been  set  by  the  side  of  a  drain  for 
rats,  and  the  Weasel  coming  out,  or  perhaps  frightened 
by  footsteps,  and  hastening  carelessly,  had  been 
trapped.  Bevis,  biting  his  apple,  looked  at  the 
Weasel,  and  the  Weasel  said,  "  Sir  Bevis,  please  let 
me  out,  this  gin  hurts  me  so ;  the  teeth  are  very 
sharp  and  the  spring  is  very  strong,  and  the  tar- 
cord  is  very  stout,  so  that  I  cannot  break  it.  See 
how  the  iron  has  skinned  my  leg  and  taken  off  the 
fur,  and  I  am  in  such  pain.  Do  please  let  me  go, 
before  the  ploughboy  comes,  or  he  will  hit  me  with 
a  etick,  or  smash  me  with  a  stone,  or  put  his  iron- 


AT    HOME.  33 

shod  heel  on  me ;  and  I  have  been  a  very  good 
weasel,  Be  vis.  I  have  been  catching  the  horrid  rats 
that  eat  the  bar  ley -meal  put  for  the  pigs.  Oh,  let 
me  out,  the  gin  hurts  me  so  ! " 

Bevis  put  his  foot  on  the  spring,  and  was  press- 
ing it  down,  and  the  Weasel  thought  he  was  already 
free,  and  looked  across  at  the  wood  pile  under  which 
he  meant  to  hide,  when  Bevis  heard  a  little  squeak 
close  to  his  head,  and  looked  up  and  saw  a  Mouse 
under  the  eaves  of  the  cart-house,  peeping  forth  from 
a  tiny  crevice,  where  the  mortar  had  fallen  from 
between  the  stones  of  the  wall. 

"  Bevis,  Bevis  ! "  said  the  Mouse,  "  don't  you  do 
it — don't  you  let  that  Weasel  go !  He  is  a  most 
dreadful  wicked  weasel,  and  his  teeth  are  ever  so 
much  sharper  than  that  gin.  He  does  not  kill  the 
rats,  because  he  is  afraid  of  them  (unless  he  can 
assassinate  one  in  his  sleep),  but  he  murdered  my 
wife  and  sucked  her  blood,  and  her  body,  all  dry 
and  withered,  is  up  in  the  beam  there,  if  you  will 
get  a  ladder  and  look.  And  he  killed  all  my  little 
mouses,  and  made  me  very  unhappy,  and  I  shall 
never  be  able  to  get  another  wife  to  live  with  me 

in   this    cart-house  while    he  is    about.      There  is  no 
D 


34  WOOD    MAGIC. 

way  we  can  get  away  from  him.  If  we  go  out 
into  the  field  he  folbws  us  there,  and  if  we  go  into 
the  sheds  he  comes  after  us  there,  and  he  is  a  cruel 
beast,  that  wicked  weasel.  You  know  you  ate  the 
partridge's  eggs,"  added  the  Mouse,  speaking  to  the 
Weasel. 

"  It  is  all  false,"  said  the  Weasel.  "  But  it  is 
true  that  you  ate  the  wheat  out  of  the  ears  in  the 
wheat-rick,  and  you  know  what  was  the  consequence. 
If  that  little  bit  of  wheat  you  ate  had  been  threshed, 
and  ground,  and  baked,  and  made  into  bread,  then 
that  poor  girl  would  have  had  a  crust  to  eat,  and 
would  not  have  jumped  into  the  river,  and  she  would 
have  had  a  son,  and  he  would  have  been  a  great 
man  and  fought  battles,  just  as  Bevis  does  with  his 
brazen  cannon,  and  won  great  victories,  and  been 
the  pride  of  all  the  nation.  But  you  ate  those  par- 
ticular grains  of  wheat  that  were  meant  to  do  all 
this,  you  wicked  little  mouse.  Besides  which,  you 
ran  across  the  bed  one  night,  and  frightened  Bevis's 
mother." 

"  But  I  did  not  mean  to,"  said  the  Mouse ;  "  and 
you  did  mean  to  kill  my  wife,  and  you  ate  the  par- 
tridge's eggs." 


AT    HOME.  85 

"  And  a  very  good  thing  I  did/'  said  the  Weasel. 
"  Do  you  know  what  would  have  happened,  if  I  had 
not  taken  them  ?  I  did  it  all  for  good,  and  with 
the  best  intentions.  For  if  I  had  left  the  eggs  one 
more  day,  there  was  a  man  who  meant  to  have 
stolen  them  all  but  one,  which  he  meant  to  have 
left  to  deceive  the  keeper.  If  he  had  stolen  them, 
he  would  have  been  caught,  for  the  keeper  was 
watching  for  him  all  the  time,  and  he  would  have 
been  put  to  prison,  and  his  children  would  have 
been  hungry.  So  I  ate  the  eggs,  and  especially  I 
ate  every  bit  of  the  one  the  man  meant  to  have 
left." 

"And  why  were  you  so  particular  about  eating 
that  egg?"  asked  Bevis. 

,  "Because,"  said  the  Weasel,  "if  that  egg  had 
come  to  a  partridge  chick,  and  the  chick  had  lived 
till  the  shooting- time  came,  then  the  sportsman  and 
his  brother,  when  they  came  round,  would  have  started 
it  out  of  the  stubble,  and  the  shot  from  the  gun  of 
the  younger  would  have  accidentally  killed  the  elder, 
and  people  would  have  thought  it  was  done  to 
murder  him  for  the  sake  of  the  inheritance." 

"Now,  is  this  true?"   said  Bevis. 
D  2 


36  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"  Yes,  that  it  is  ;  and  I  killed  the  mouse's 
wife  also  for  the  best  of  reasons/' 

"  You   horrid   wretch  ! "   cried  the   Mouse. 

"  Oh,  you  needn't  call  me  a  wretch/'  said  the 
Weasel ;  "  I  am  sure  you  ought  to  be  grateful  to 
me,  for  your  wife  was  very  jealous  because  you 
paid  so  much  attention  to  the  Miss  Mouse  you 
want  to  marry  now,  and  in  the  night  she  meant 
to  have  gnawn  your  throat." 

"And  you  frightened  my  mother,"  said  Bevis, 
"by  running  across  her  bed  in  the  night;"  and  he 
began  to  press  on  the  spring  of  the  gin. 

"  Yes,  that  he  did,"  said  the  Weasel,  overjoyed ; 
"  and  he  made  a  hole  in  the  boards  of  the  floor,  and 
it  was  down  that  hole  that  the  half-sovereign  rolled 
and  was  lost,  and  the  poor  maid-servant  sent  away 
because  they  thought  she  had  stolen  it." 

"  What  do  you  say  to  that  ? "  asked  Bevis. 

But  the  Mouse  was  quite  aghast  and  dumb- 
founded, and  began  to  think  that  it  was  he  after  all 
who  was  in  the  wrong,  so  that  for  the  moment  he 
could  not  speak.  Just  then  Bevis  caught  sight  of 
the  colt  that  had  come  up  beside  his  mother,  the 
cart  mare,  to  the  fence ;  and  thinking  that  he  would 


AT    HOME.  37 

go  and  try  and  stroke  the  pretty  creature,  Bevis 
started  forward,  forgetting  all  about  the  Weasel  and 
the  Mouse.  As  he  started,  he  pressed  the  spring 
down,  and  in  an  instant  the  Weasel  was  out,  and 
had  hobbled  across  to  the  wood  pile.  When  the 
Mouse  saw  this,  he  gave  a  little  squeak  of  terror, 
and  ran  back  to  his  hiding-place. 

But  when  Bevis  put  out  his  hand  to  stroke  the 
colt,  the  colt  started  back,  so  he  picked  up  a  stick 
and  threw  at  him.  Then  he  took  another  stick  and 
hunted  the  hens  round  and  round  the  ricks  to  make 
them  lay  their  eggs  faster,  as  it  is  well  known  that 
is  the  best  way.  For  he  remembered  that  last  year 
they  had  shown  him  three  tiny  bantam  chicks,  such 
darling  little  things,  all  cuddled  cosily  together  in 
the  hollow  of  a  silver  table-spoon.  The  hens  clucked 
and  raced,  and  Bevis  raced  after  and  shouted,  and  the 
cock  slipping  on  one  side,  for  it  hurt  his  dignity  to 
run  away  like  the  rest,  hopped  upon  the  railings, 
flapped  his  wings,  crew,  and  cried,  "You'll  be  glad 
when  Fm  dead."  That  was  how  Bevis  translated 
his  "  hurra-ca-roorah/' 

In  the  midst  of  the  noise  out  came  Polly,  the 
dairymaid,  with  a  bone  for  Pan,  which  Bevis  no 


38  WOOD    MAGIC. 

sooner  saw,  than  he  asked  her  to  let  him  give  Pan 
his  dinner.  "  Very  well,  dear/'  said  Polly,  and  went 
in  to  finish  her  work.  So  Bevis  took  the  bone,  and 
Pan,  all  weary  and  sore  from  his  thrashing,  crept 
out  from  his  tub  to  receive  it;  but  Bevis  put  the 
bone  on  the  grass  (all  the  grass  was  worn  bare  where 
Pan  could  reach)  just  where  the  spaniel  could  smell 
it  nicely  but  could  not  get  it.  Pan  struggled,  and 
scratched,  and  howled,  and  scratched  again,  and  tugged 
till  his  collar,  buckled  tightly  now,  choked  him,  and 
he  gasped  and  panted,  while  Bevis  taking  the  rem- 
nant of  his  apple  from  his  pocket,  nibbled  it  and 
laughed  with  a  face  like  an  angel's  for  sweetness. 

Then  a  rook  went  over  and  cawed,  and  Bevis,  look- 
ing up  at  the  bird,  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  swing 
over  the  wall — it  stood  under  the  sycamore  tree. 
Dropping  the  bit  of  apple,  away  he  ran  to  the  swing, 
and  sat  in  it,  and  pushed  himself  off.  As  he  swung 
forward  he  straightened  his  legs  and  leant  back; 
when  he  swung  back  he  drew  his  feet  under  him  and 
leant  forward,  and  by  continuing  this  the  weight  of 
his  body  caused  the  swing  to  rise  like  a  pendulum 
till  he  went  up  among  the  sycamore  boughs,  nearly 
as  high  as  the  ivy-grown  roof  of  the  summer-house, 


AT    HOME.  39 

just  opposite.  There  lie  went  to  and  fro,  as  easily  as 
possible,  shutting  his  eyes  and  humming  to  himself. 
Presently  a  cock  chaffinch  came  and  perched  in  the 
ash  close  by,  and  immediately  began  to  sing  his  war- 
song  :  "  I  am  lord  of  this  tree/'  sang  the  chaffinch, 
"  I  am  lord  of  this  tree ;  every  bough  is  mine,  and 
every  leaf,  and  the  wind  that  comes  through  it,  and 
the  sunshine  that  falls  on  it,  and  the  rain  that 
moistens  it,  and  the  blue  sky  over  it,  and  the  grass 
underneath  it — all  this  is  mine.  My  nest  is  going 
to  be  made  in  the  ivy  that  grows  half-way  up  the 
trunk,  and  my  wife  is  very  busy  to-day  bringing 
home  the  fibres  and  the  moss,  and  I  have  just  come 
back  a  little  while  to  tell  you  all  that  none  of  you 
must  come  into  or  touch  my  tree.  I  like  this  tree, 
and  therefore  it  is  mine.  Be  careful  that  none  of 
you  come  inside  the  shadow  of  it,  or  I  shall  peck  you 
with  all  my  might." 

Then  he  paused  awhile,  and  Bevis  went  on  swing- 
ing and  listening.  In  a  minute  or  two  another 
chaffinch  came  to  the  elm  in  the  hedge  just  outside 
the  garden,  and  quite  close  to  the  ash.  Directly 
he  perched,  he  ruffled  up  and  began  to  sing  too, 
"  I  am  lord  of  this  tree,  and  it  is  a  very  high 


WOOD    MAGIC. 

tree,  much  higher  than  the  ash,  and  even  above  the 
oak  where  that  slow  fellow  the  crow  is  building. 
Mine  is  the  very  highest  tree  of  all,  and  I  am  the 
brightest  and  prettiest  of  all  the  chaffinches.  See 
my  colours  how  bright  they  are,  so  that  you  would 
hardly  know  me  from  a  bullfinch.  There  is  not  a 
feather  rumpled  in  my  wing,  or  my  tail,  and  I  have 
the  most  beautiful  eyes  of  all  of  you." 

Hardly  had  he  done  singing  than  another  chaf- 
finch came  into  the  crab-tree,  a  short  way  up  the 
hedge,  and  he  began  to  sing  too.  "  I  have  a  much 
bigger  tree  than  either  of  you,  but  as  it  is  at  the  top 
of  the  field  I  cannot  bring  it  down  here,  but  I  have 
come  down  into  this  crab-tree,  and  I  say  it  is  mine, 
and  I  am  lord  of  two  trees.  I  am  stronger  than 
both  of  you,  and  neither  of  you  dare  come  near  me." 

The  two  other  chaffinches  were  silent  for  a 
minute,  and  then  one  of  them,  the  knight  of  the 
ash-tree,  flew  down  into  the  hedge  under  the  crab- 
tree  ;  and  instantly  down  flew  the  third  chaffinch, 
and  they  fought  a  battle,  and  pecked  and  buffeted 
one  another  with  their  wings,  till  Bevis'  tears  ran 
down  with  laughing.  Presently  they  parted,  and 
the  third  chaffinch  went  home  to  his  tree  at  the  top 


AT    HOME.  41 

of  the  field,  leaving  one  little  feather  on  the  ground, 
which  the  first  chaffinch  picked  up  and  carried  to  his 
nest  in  the  ash. 

But  scarcely  had  he  woven  it  into  the  nest  than 
down  flew  the  second  chaffinch  from  the  elm  into 
the  shadow  of  the  ash.  Flutter,  flutter  went  the 
first  chaffinch  to  meet  him,  and  they  had  such  a 
battle  as  Bevis  had  never  seen  before,  and  fought 
till  they  were  tired  ;  then  each  flew  up  into  his  tree, 
and  sang  again  about  their  valour. 

Immediately  afterwards  ten  sparrows  came  from 
the  house-top  into  the  bushes,  chattering  and 
struggling  all  together,  scratching,  pecking,  buffeting, 
and  all  talking  at  once.  After  they  had  had  a  good 
fight  they  all  went  back  to  the  house-top,  and  be- 
gan to  tell  each  other  what  tremendous  blows  they 
had  given.  Then  there  was  such  a  great  cawing 
from  the  rook  trees,  which  were  a  long  way  off,  that 
it  was  evident  a  battle  was  going  on  there,  and 
Bevis  heard  the  chaffinch  say  that  one  of  the  rooks 
had  been  caught  stealing  his  cousin's  sticks. 

Next  two  goldfinches  began  to  fight,  and  then  a 
blackbird  came  up  from  the  brook  and  perched  on  a 
rail,  and  he  was  such  a  boaster,  for  he  said  he  had 


42  WOOD    MAGIC. 

the  yellowest  bill  of  all  the  blackbirds,  and  the 
blackest  coat,  and  the  largest  eye,  and  the  sweetest 
whistle,  and  he  was  lord  over  all  the  blackbirds.  In 
two  minutes  up  came  another  one  from  out  of  the 
bramble  bushes  at  the  corner,  and  away  they  went 
chattering  at  each  other.  Presently  the  starlings 
on  the  chimney  began  to  quarrel,  and  had  a  terrible 
set-to.  Then  a  wren  came  by,  and  though  he  was 
so  small,  his  boast  was  worse  than  the  blackbirds', 
for  he  said  he  was  the  sharpest,  and  the  cleverest  of 
all  the  birds,  and  knew  more  than  all  put  together. 

Afar  off,  in  the  trees,  there  were  six  or  seven 
thrushes,  all  declaring  that  they  were  the  best  singers, 
and  had  the  most  speckled  necks ;  and  up  in  the 
sky  the  swallows  were  saying  that  they  had  the 
whitest  bosoms. 

"Oo!  whoo,"  cried  a  wood-pigeon  from  the  very  oak 
under  which  Bevis  had  gone  to  sleep.  "There  are 
none  who  can  fly  so  fast  as  I  can.  I  am  a  captain 
of  the  wood-pigeons,  and  in  the  winter  I  have  three 
hundred  and  twenty-two  pigeons  under  me,  and  they 
all  do  exactly  as  I  tell  them.  They  fly  when  I  fly, 
and  settle  down  when  I  settle  down.  If  I  go  to  the 
west,  they  go  to  the  west ;  and  if  I  go  to  the  east, 


AT    HOME.  43 

then  they  follow  to  the  east.  I  have  the  biggest 
acorns,  and  the  best  of  the  peas,  for  they  leave  them 
especially  for  me.  And  not  one  of  all  the  three 
hundred  and  twenty-two  pigeons  dares  to  begin  to 
eat  the  wheat  in  August  till  I  say  it  is  ripe  and 
they  may,  and  not  one  of  them  dares  to  take  a  wife 
till  I  say  yes.  Oo-whoo !  Is  not  my  voice  sweet 
and  soft,  and  delicious,  far  sweeter  than  that  screech- 
ing nightingale's  in  the  hawthorn  yonder?" 

But  he  had  no  sooner  finished  than  another  one 
began  in  the  fir  copse,  and  said  he  was  captain  of 
one  thousand  pigeons,  and  was  ever  so  much  stronger, 
and  could  fly  ten  miles  an  hour  faster.  So  away 
went  the  first  pigeon  to  the  fir  copse,  and  there  was 
a  great  clattering  of  wings  and  "  oo-whoo  "-ing,  and 
how  it  was  settled  Bevis  could  not  tell. 

So  as  he  went  on  swinging,  he  heard  all  the  birds 
quarrelling,  and  boasting,  and  fighting,  hundreds  of 
them  all  round,  and  he  said  to  the  chaffinch  on  the 
ash  : — 

"  Chaffinch,  it  seems  to  me  that  you  are  all 
very  wicked  birds,  for  you  think  of  nothing  but 
fighting  all  day  long." 

The  chaffinch   laughed,   and   said,  "My  dear   Sir 


44  WOOD    MAGIC. 

Bevis,  I  do  not  know  what  you  mean  by  wicked. 
But  fighting  is  very  nice  indeed,  and  we  all  feel  so 
jolly  when  fighting  time  comes.  For  you  must 
know  that  the  spring  is  the  duelling  time,  when 
all  the  birds  go  to  battle.  There  is  not  a  tree 
nor  a  bush  on  your  papa's  farm,  nor  on  all  the  farms 
all  round,  nor  in  all  the  country,  nor  in  all  this 
island,  but  some  fighting  is  going  on.  I  have  not 
time  to  tell  you  all  about  it ;  but  I  wish  you  could 
read  our  history,  and  all  about  the  wars  that  have 
been  going  on  these  thousand  years.  Perhaps  if 
you  should  ever  meet  the  Squirrel  he  will  tell  you, 
for  he  knows  most  about  history.  As  we  all  like  it 
so  much,  it  must  be  right,  and  we  never  hurt  one 
another  very  much.  Sometimes  a  feather  is  knocked 
out,  and  sometimes  one  gets  a  hard  peck ;  but  it  does 
not  do  any  harm.  And  after  it  is  over,  in  the  autumn 
we  are  all  very  good  friends,  and  go  hunting  together. 
You  may  see  us,  hundreds  of  us  in  your  papa's  stubble- 
fields,  Bevis,  all  flying  together  very  happy.  I  think  the 
sky-larks  fight  the  most,  for  they  begin  almost  in  the 
winter  if  the  sun  shines  warm  for  an  hour,  and  they 
keep  on  all  day  in  the  summer,  and  till  it  is  quite 
dark  and  the  stars  are  out,  besides  getting  up  before 


AT    HOME.  45 

the  cuckoo  to  go  on  again.  Yet  they  are  the 
sweetest,  and  nicest,  o£  all  the  birds,  and  the  most 
gentle,  and  do  not  mind  our  coming  into  their  fields. 
So  I  am  sure,  Bevis,  that  you  are  wrong,  and  fight- 
ing is  not  wicked  if  you  love  one  another.  You  and 
Mark  are  fond  of  one  another,  but  you  hit  him 
sometimes,  don't  you?" 

"  Yes,  that  I  do/'  said  Bevis,  very  eagerly,  "  I 
hit  him  yesterday  so  hard  with  my  bat  that  he  would 
not  come  and  play  with  me.  It  is  very  nice  to  hit 
any  one." 

"  But  you  cannot  do  it  like  we  do  it/'  said  the 
chaffinch,  swelling  with  pride  again,  "  for  we  sing 
and  you  can't,  and  if  you  can't  sing  you  have  no 
business  to  fight,  and  besides,  though  you  are  much 
older  than  me  you  are  not  married  yet.  Now  I 
have  such  a  beautiful  wife,  and  to  tell  you  the  truth, 
Bevis,  we  do  the  fighting  because  the  ladies  love  to 
see  it,  and  kiss  us  for  it  afterwards.  I  am  the 
knight  of  this  tree!" 

After  which  Bevis,  being  tired  of  swinging,  went 
to  the  summer-house  to  read  what  he  had  written 
with  his  stump  of  pencil  till  he  was  called  to  tea. 
In  the  evening,  when  the  sun  was  sinking,  he  went 


46  WOOD    MAGIC. 

out  and  lay  down  on  the  seat — it  was  a  broad  plank 
grey  with  lichen — under  the  russet  apple-tree,  looking 
towards  the  west,  over  the  brook  below.  He  saw  the 
bees  coming  home  to  the  hives  close  by  on  the 
haha,  and  they  seemed  to  come  high  in  the  air, 
flying  straight  as  if  from  the  distant  hills  where  the 
sun  was.  He  heard  the  bees  say  that  there  were  such 
quantities  of  flowers  on  the  hills,  and  such  pleasant 
places,  and  that  the  sky  was  much  more  blue  up 
there,  and  he  thought  if  he  could  he  would  go  to 
the  hills  soon. 


CHAPTER   III 

ADVENTUKES   OF   THE   WEASEL. 

AFTER  awhile  the  mowers  came  and  began  to  cut 
the  long  grass  in  the  Home  Field,  and  the  meadow 
by  the  brook.  Bevis  could  see  them  from  the 
garden,  and  it  was  impossible  to  prevent  him  from 
straying  up  the  footpath,  so  eager  was  he  to  go 
nearer.  The  best  thing  that  could  be  done,  since 
he  could  not  be  altogether  stopped,  was  to  make  him 
promise  that  he  would  not  go  beyond  a  certain 
limit.  He  might  wander  as  much  as  he  pleased 
inside  the  hedge  and  the  Home  Field,  in  which  there 
was  no  pond,  nor  any  place  where  he  could  very 
well  come  to  harm.  But  he  must  not  creep  through 
the  hedge,  so  that  he  would  always  be  in  sight  from 
the  garden.  If  he  wished  to  enter  the  meadow  by 
the  brook  he  must  ask  special  permission,  that  some 
one  might  be  put  to  watch  now  and  then. 

But  more  expressly  he  was  forbidden  to  enter  the 
Little  Field.     The  grass  there  was  not  yet  to  be  mown 


48  WOOD     MAGIC. 

— it  was  too  long  to  walk  in — and  they  were  afraid 
lest  he  should  get  through  the  hedge,  or  climb  over 
the  high  pad-locked  gate  in  some  way  or  other,  for 
the  Longpond  was  on  the  other  side,  though  it  could 
not  be  seen  for  trees.  Nor  was  he  to  approach 
nearer  to  the  mowers  than  one  swathe  ;  he  was  always 
to  keep  one  swathe  between  him  and  the  scythes, 
which  are  extremely  sharp  and  t  dangerous  instru- 
ments. 

Sir  Bevis  repeated  these  promises  so  seriously, 
and  with  so  demure  and  innocent  an  expression,  that 
no  one  could  doubt  but  that  he  would  keep  them 
strictly,  nor,  indeed,  did  any  idea  of  exceeding  these 
limits  occur  to  him.  He  was  so  overjoyed  at  the 
vast  extent  of  territory,  almost  a  new  world  thrown 
open  for  exploration,  that  he  did  not  think  it  pos- 
sible he  could  ever  want  to  go  any  further.  He 
rushed  into  the  Home  Field,  jumping  over  the  swathes 
till  he  was  tired,  and  kicking  the  grass  about  with 
his  feet.  Then  he  wanted  a  prong,  and  a  stout  stick 
with  a  fork  was  cut  and  pointed  for  him,  and  with 
this  he  went  eagerly  to  work  for  five  minutes.  Next 
he  wanted  some  one  to  bury  under  the  grass,  and 
could  not  be  satisfied  till  the  dairy-maid  was  sent 


ADVENTURES  OF  THE  WEASEL.          49 

out  and  submitted  to  be  completely  hidden  under 
a  heap  of  it. 

Next  he  walked  all  round  the  field,  and  back 
home  down  the  middle.  By-and-by  he  sat  down  and 
looked  at  the  mowers,  who  were  just  finishing  the  last 
corner  before  they  went  into  the  meadow  by  the 
brook.  While  he  was  sitting  there  a  number  of 
greenfinches,  and  sparrows,  and  two  or  three  hasty 
starlings  (for  they  are  always  in  a  hurry),  came  to 
the  sward  where  the  mowers  had  just  passed,  and 
searched  about  for  food.  They  seemed  so  happy 
and  looked  so  pretty,  Bevis  thought  he  should  like 
to  shoot  one,  so  away  he  ran  home  to  the  summer- 
house  for  his  bow  and  arrow.  Hastening  back 
with  these,  he  built  a  heap  of  the  grass  to  hide 
behind,  like  a  breastwork,  and  then  sat  down  and 
watched  for  the  birds. 

They  did  not  come  directly,  as  they  ought  to 
have  done,  so  he  kicked  up  his  heels,  and  rolled 
over  on  his  back,  and  looked  up  at  the  sky,  as  was 
his  wont.  Every  now  and  then  he  could  hear  Pan 
whining  woefully  in  his  tub  a  long  way  off.  Since 
the  whipping  the  spaniel  had  been  in  disgrace,  and 
no  one  would  let  him  loose.  Bevis,  so  delighted 


50  WOOD    MAGIC. 

with  his  field  to  roam  about  in,  quite  forgot  him, 
and  left  him  to  sorrow  in  his  tub.  Presently  he 
heard  a  lark  singing  so  sweetly,  though  at  a  great 
distance,  that  he  kept  quite  still  to  listen.  The  song 
came  in  verses,  now  it  rose  a  little  louder,  and  now 
it  fell  till  he  could  hardly  hear  it,  and  again  re- 
turned. Bevis  got  up  on  his  knees  to  try  and  find 
where  the  lark  was,  but  the  sky  was  so  blue  there, 
or  the  bird  so  high  up,  he  could  not  see  it,  though 
he  searched  and  searched.  It  was  somewhere  in 
the  next  field,  far  beyond  the  great  oak  where  he 
once  fell  asleep. 

He  then  peered  round  his  heap  of  grass,  but 
there  were  no  greenfinches  near;  they  had  come 
out  from  the  hedges,  and  the  starling  had  come 
from  the  hollow  pollard  where  he  had  a  nest,  but 
all  had  settled  a  long  way  off  from  his  hiding- 
place.  Bevis  was  very  angry,  so  he  stood  up,  and 
pulled  his  bow  with  all  his  might,  and  let  the 
arrow  fly  into  the  air  almost  straight  up.  When 
it  had  risen  so  far,  it  turned  over  and  came  down 
among  the  flock  of  birds  and  stuck  in  the  ground. 

They  flew  away  in  terror,  and  though  he  had  not 
killed  any,  Bevis  was  highly  delighted  at  the 


ADVENTURES  OF  THE  WEASEL.          51 

fright  they  were  in.  He  picked  up  his  arrow,  and 
tried  another  long  shot  at  a  rook  on  the  other  side 
of  the  field,  but  he  could  not  send  it  so  great  a  dis- 
tance. As  he  ran  for  it,  he  saw  that  the  rook's  back 
was  towards  him,  and,  thinking  that  the  rook  could 
not  see  him,  he  raced  on  quietly  to  try  and  catch 
him,  but  just  as  he  got  close,  up  rose  the  rook  over 
the  hedge  with  a  "  caw,  caw ! "  Whizz !  went 
Bevis's  arrow  after  him,  and  fell  on  the  other  side  of 
the  hedge,  where  he  was  not  to  go. 

In  his  anger  at  the  rook's  behaviour  Bevis  for- 
got all  about  his  promise ;  he  jumped  into  the  ditch 
regardless  of  the  stinging-nettles,  pushed  his  way 
up  through  the  briars,  tearing  his  sleeve,  forced  his 
way  across  the  mound,  and  went  on  his  hands  and 
knees  through  the  young  green  fern  on  the  other 
side  (just  as  Pan  would  have  done)  under  the  thick 
thorn  bushes,  and  so  out  into  the  next  field.  It  was 
the  very  field  where  he  and  Pan  had  wandered  be- 
fore, only  another  part  of  it.  There  was  his  arrow 
ever  so  far  off,  sticking  upright  in  the  grass  among 
the  cowslips.  As  he  went  to  pick  up  his  arrow  he 
saw  another  flower  growing  a  little  further  on,  and 

went  to   gather  that  first;    it  was    an   orchid,   and 

E  2 


52  WOOD    MAGIC. 

when  he  stood  up  with  it  in  his  hand  he  heard  a 
mouse  rustle  in  the  grass,  and  stepped  quietly  to  try 
and  see  it,  but  the  mouse  hid  in  a  hole. 

Then  there  was  an  enormous  humble-bee,  so  huge 
that  when  it  stayed  to  suck  a  cowslip,  the  cowslip 
was  bent  down  with  its  weight.  Bevis  walked  after 
the  giant  humble-bee,  and  watched  it  take  the  honey 
from  several  cowslips ;  then  he  saw  a  stone  standing 
in  the  field,  it  was  not  upright,  but  leaned  to  one 
side — yet  it  was  almost  as  tall  as  he  was.  He  went 
to  the  stone  and  looked  all  round  it,  and  got  up  on 
it  and  sat  still  a  minute,  and  while  he  was  there  a 
cuckoo  came  by,  so  close,  that  he  jumped  off  to 
run  after  it.  But  the  cuckoo  flew  fast,  and  began 
to  call  "  cuckoo ! "  and  it  was  no  use  to  chase 
him. 

When  Bevis  stopped  and  looked  about  he  was  in 
a  hollow,  like  a  big  salad  bowl,  only  all  grass,  and 
he  could  see  nothing  but  the  grass  and  cowslips  all 
round  him — no  hedges — and  the  sky  overhead.  He 
began  to  dance  and  sing  with  delight  at  such  a 
curious  place,  and  when  he  paused  the  lark  was  on 
again,  and  not  very  far  this  time.  There  he  was, 
rising  gradually,  singing  as  he  went.  Bevis  ran 


ADVENTURES  OP  THE  WEASEL.          53 

up  the  side  of  the  hollow  towards  the  lark,  and  saw 
a  hedge  cut  and  cropped  low,  and  over  it  a  wheat- 
field.  He  watched  the  lark  sing,  sing,  sing,  up  into 
the  sky,  and  then  he  thought  he  would  go  and  find 
his  nest,  as  he  remembered  the  ploughboy  had  told 
him  larks  made  their  nests  on  the  ground  among  the 
corn. 

He  ran  to  the  low  hedge,  but  though  it  was  low 
it  was  very  thorny,  and  while  he  was  trying  to  find 
a  place  to  get  through,  he  looked  over  and  spied  a 
hare  crouched  in  the  rough  grass,  just  under  the 
hedge  between  it  and  the  wheat.  The  hare  was  lying 
on  the  ground ;  she  did  not  move,  though  she  saw 
Bevis,  and  when  he  looked  closer  he  saw  that  her 
big  eyes  were  full  of  tears.  She  was  crying  very 
bitterly,  all  by  herself,  while  the  sun  was  shining 
so  brightly,  and  the  wind  blowing  so  sweetly,  and 
the  flowers  smelling  so  pleasantly,  and  the  lark  sing, 
sing,  singing  overhead. 

"  Oh  !  dear,"  said  Bevis,  so  eager  and  so  sorry, 
that  he  pushed  against  the  hedge,  and  did  not  notice 
that  a  thorn  was  pricking  his  arm  :  <e  What  ever  is 
the  matter  ? "  But  the  Hare  was  so  miserable  she 
would  not  answer  him  at  first,  till  he  coaxed  her 


54  WOOD    MAGIC. 

nicely.  Then  she  said,  "  Bevis,  Bevis,  little  Sir 
Be  vis,  do  you  know  what  you  have  done  ? " 

"  No,"  said  Bevis,  "  I  can't  think  :  was  it  me  ?  " 

"  Yes,  it  was  you ;  you  let  the  Weasel  loose, 
when  he  was  caught  in  the  gin." 

"  Did  I  ?  "  said  Bevis,  "  I  have  quite  forgotten 
it." 

"  But  you  did  it,"  said  the  Hare,  "  and  now  the 
Weasel  has  killed  my  son,  the  leveret,  while  he  was 
sleeping,  and  sucked  his  blood,  and  I  am  so  miser- 
able ;  I  do  not  care  to  run  away  any  more."  Then 
the  Hare  began  to  weep  bitterly  again,  till  Bevis  did 
not  know  what  to  do  to  comfort  her. 

"  Perhaps  the  Weasel  only  killed  the  leveret  for 
your  good/'  he  said  presently. 

"  What ! "  cried  the  Hare,  putting  her  fore-feet 
down  hard,  and  stamping  with  indignation,  "That 
is  what  the  wicked  old  wretch  told  you,  did  he  not, 
about  the  Mouse  and  the  partridge's  eggs.  Cannot 
you  see  that  it  is  all  a  pack  of  lies  ?  But  I  do  not 
wonder  that  he  deceives  you,  dear,  since  he  has  de- 
ceived the  world  for  so  long.  Let  me  tell  you,  Sir 
Bevis,  the  Weasel  is  the  wickedest  and  most  dread- 
ful creature  that  lives,  and  above  all  things  he  is  so 


ADVENTURES    OF    THE    WEASEL.  55 

cunning1  he  can  make  people  believe  anything  he 
chooses,  and  he  has  succeeded  in  making  fools  of  us 
all — every  one. 

"  There  is  not  one  of  all  the  animals  in  the  hedge, 
nor  one  of  the  birds  in  the  trees,  that  he  has  not 
cheated.  He  is  so  very,  very,  cunning,  and  his 
talk  is  so  soft  and  smooth.  Do  you  please  take 
care,  Sir  Bevis,  or  perhaps  he  may  deceive  you,  as 
he  deceived  the  Fox.  Why,  do  you  know,  he  has 
made  the  people  believe  that  his  crimes  are  com- 
mitted by  the  Fox,  who  consequently  bears  all  the 
disgrace;  and  not  only  that,  but  he  has  spread  it 
abroad  that  the  Fox  is  the  most  cunning  of  all,  in 
order  that  he  may  not  be  suspected  of  being  so  clever 
as  he  is.  I  daresay  the  Weasel  will  have  me  some 
day,  and  I  do  not  care  if  he  does,  now  my  leveret  is 
dead;  and  very  soon  his  poor  bones  will  be  picked 
clean  by  the  ants,  and  after  the  corn  is  carried  the 
plough  will  bury  them/' 

Bevis  was  terribly  distressed  at  the  Hare's  story, 
and  showed  such  indignation  against  the  Weasel,  and 
stamped  his  little  foot  so  hard,  knitting  his  brow, 
that  the  Hare  was  somewhat  appeased,  and  began  to 
explain  all  about  it. 


56  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"Of  course  you  did  not  know,  dear/'  she  said, 
"  when  you  stepped  on  the  spring  of  the  gin,  what 
trouble  we  had  had  to  get  him  into  the  trap.  For 
we  had  all  suffered  so  long  from  his  cruelty,  that 
we  had  all  agreed  at  last  to  try  and  put  an  end  to 
it.  The  trees  could  not  bear  to  stand  still  and  see 
it  go  on  under  them,  yet  they  could  not  move.  The 
earth  could  not  bear  to  feel  him  running  about  on 
his  bloodthirsty  business,  through  the  holes  the  rab- 
bits had  made.  The  grass  hated  to  feel  him  pushing 
through,  for  it  had  so  often  been  stained  with  the 
blood  that  he  had  shed.  So  we  all  took  counsel  to- 
gether, and  I  carried  the  messages,  dear,  from  the 
oak,  where  you  slept,  to  the  ash  and  the  elm,  and 
to  the  earth  in  the  corner  where  the  rabbits  live ; 
and  the  birds  came  up  into  the  oak  and  gave  their 
adherence,  every  one;  and  the  Fox,  too,  though  he 
did  not  come  himself,  for  he  is  too  cunning  to  com- 
mit himself  till  he  knows  which  way  the  wind  is 
going  to  blow,  sent  word  of  his  high  approval. 

"  Thus  we  were  all  prepared  to  act  against  that  mid- 
night assassin,  the  Weasel,  but  we  could  not  begin. 
The  trees  could  not  move,  the  earth  could  not  wag 
a  step,  the  grass  could  do  nothing,  and  so  it  went 


ADVENTURES    OP    THE    WEASEL.  57 

on  for  some  months,  during  all  which  time  the 
Weasel  was  busy  with  his  wickedness,  till  at  kst 
the  Bailiff  set  the  gin  for  the  Rat  by  the  cart-house. 
Then  the  Fox  came  out  by  day — contrary  to  his  cus- 
tom, for  he  likes  a  nap — and  went  to  a  spot  where 
he  knew  a  rabbit  sat  in  the  grass;  and  he  hunted 
the  poor  rabbit  (it  was  very  good  sport  to  see — I  do 
not  like  rabbits),  till  he  had  driven  him  across  the 
ditch,  where  the  Weasel  was.  Then  the  Fox  stopped, 
and  hid  himself  in  the  furze ;  and  the  Weasel,  first 
looking  round  to  see  that  no  one  was  near,  stole  after 
the  rabbit.  Now  the  rabbit  knew  that  the  Fox  was 
about,  and  therefore  he  was  afraid  to  run  across  the 
open  field;  all  he  could  do  was  to  go  down  the 
hedge  towards  the  garden. 

"Everything  was  going  on  well,  and  we  sent  word 
to  the  Eat,  to  warn  him  against  the  gin — we  did  not 
like  the  Rat,  but  we  did  not  want  the  gin  thrown — 
don't  you  see,  dear  ?  But  when  the  rabbit  had  gone 
half-way  down  the  hedge,  and  was  close  to  the  garden, 
he  became  afraid  to  venture  any  nearer  your  house, 
Bevis.  Still  the  Weasel  crept  after  him,  and  presently 
drove  him  almost  up  to  your  sycamore-tree.  Then 
the  rabbit  did  not  know  what  to  do ;  for  if  he  went 


58  WOOD    MAGIC. 

forward  the  people  in  the  house  might  see  him  and 
bring  out  the  gun,  and  if  he  turned  back  the  Weasel 
would  have  him,  and  if  he  ran  out  into  the  field 
the  Fox  would  be  there,  and  he  could  not  climb  up 
a  tree.  He  stopped  still,  trying  to  think,  till  the 
Weasel  came  so  near  he  could  smell  the  rabbit's 
blood,  and  then,  in  his  terror,  the  rabbit  darted  out 
from  the  hedge,  and  into  the  ditch  of  your  haha 
wall,  under  where  the  bee-hives  are.  There  he  saw  a 
dry  drain,  and  hopped  into  it,  forgetting  in  his 
fright  that  he  might  not  be  able  to  get  out  at  the 
other  end. 

.  "The  Weasel  thought  he  had  now  got  him  safe, 
and  was  just  going  to  rush  across  and  follow, 
when  an  ant  spoke  to  him  from  the  trunk  of  a  tree 
it  was  climbing.  The  ant  said  the  Fox  had  asked 
him  yesterday  to  watch,  and  if  the  Weasel  came  that 
way,  to  warn  him  that  there  was  a  plot  laid  for  his 
life,  and  not  to  be  too  venturesome.  This  was  a 
piece  of  the  same  double-faced  ways  the  Fox  has 
been  notorious  for  these  many  years  past.  No  one 
hates  the  Weasel  so  much  as  the  Fox,  but  he  said  to 
himself,  '  The  Weasel  is  so  cunning,  that  even  if  he 
is  caught,  he  is  sure  to  find  some  way  to  get  free, 


ADVENTUKES    OF    THE    WEASEL.  59 

and  then  he  will  perhaps  discover  that  I  had  a  hand 
in  it,  and  will  turn  round  on  me  and  spoil  some  of 
my  schemes  out  of  spite.  Besides  which,  I  don't 
see  why  I  should  take  much  interest  in  the  Hare  or 
the  Mouse/  So,  though  he  hunted  the  rabbit  for  us, 
yet  he  sent  the  Weasel  this  message,  to  take  care  and 
mind  and  not  be  too  bold. 

"When  the  Weasel  heard  this  he  stopped,  and 
thought  to  himself  that  it  was  rather  dangerous 
to  go  so  near  a  house,  almost  under  it;  and  yet  he 
could  not  help  licking  his  mouth,  as  he  remem- 
bered the  sweet  scent  of  the  rabbit's  blood.  But  he 
was  so  very,  very  cunning,  that  he  thought  to 
himself  the  rabbit  would  be  obliged  to  come  out 
again  presently,  and  would  be  sure  to  come  up  the 
hedge  if  he  did  not  see  the  Weasel.  So  the  Weasel 
turned  round  to  go  up  the  hedge,  and  we  were  all 
in  anxiety  lest  the  scheme  should  miscarry.  But  as 
the  Weasel  was  going  under  the  elm,  the  elm  dropped 
a  large  dead  branch,  and  as  it  came  crashing  down, 
it  fell  so  near  the  Weasel  as  to  pinch  his  foot,  and, 
hearing  another  branch  go  crack,  he  lost  his  presence 
of  mind,  turned  back  again,  and  darted  across  the 
corner  into  the  drain.  There  the  scent  of  the  rabbit 


60  WOOD   MAGIC. 

was  so  strong  he  could  not  help  but  follow  it,  and 
in  a  moment  or  two  he  saw  the  poor  creature 
crouched  at  the  end  where  he  could  not  pass. 

"The  Weasel  bounded  forward,  when  the  earth 
squeezed  out  a  stone,  and  the  stone  fell  between  the 
Weasel  and  the  rabbit.  Before  he  could  tell  what  to 
do,  the  earth  squeezed  out  another  stone  behind  him, 
and  he  was  caught,  and  could  neither  go  forward  or 
backward.  Now  we  thought  we  had  got  him,  and 
that  he  must  starve  to  death.  As  for  the  rabbit, 
when  the  stone  fell  down  it  left  a  hole  above,  up 
which  he  scrambled  into  the  cow-yard,  and  there  hid 
himself  behind  a  bunch  of  nettles  till  night,  when 
he  escaped  into  the  field. 

"Meantime  the  Weasel  in  a  dreadful  fright  was 
walking  to  and  fro  in  his  narrow  prison,  gnashing 
his  teeth  with  rage  and  terror,  and  calling  to  all  the 
animals  and  birds  and  insects  and  even  to  the  mole 
(whom  he  despised  most  of  all)  to  help  him  out.  He 
promised  to  be  the  nicest,  kindest  Weasel  that  ever 
was  known ;  but  it  was  no  use,  for  they  were  all  in 
the  secret,  and  overjoyed  to  see  him  on  the  point  of 
perishing.  There  he  had  to  stay,  and  though  he 
scratched  and  scratched,  he  could  not  make  any  hole 


ADVENTURES  OF  THE  WEASEL.          61 

through  the  solid  stone,  and  by-and-bye  he  got 
weaker,  and  he  began  to  die.  While  he  was  dying 
the  Rat  came  and  peeped  down  at  him  through  a 
chink,  and  laughed  and  said,  '  What  is  the  use  of 
all  your  cunning,  you  coward?  If  you  had  been 
bold  like  me  you  would  never  have  got  into  this 
scrape,  by  being  afraid  of  a  dead  branch  of  a  tree 
because  it  pinched  your  foot.  I  should  have  run  by 
quickly.  You  are  a  silly,  foolish,  blind  sort  of  crea- 
ture ;  could  you  not  see  that  all  the  things  had 
agreed  to  deceive  you  ? ' 

"  At  this  the  Weasel  was  so  wroth  it  woke  him  up 
from  his  dying,  and  he  returned  the  taunt  and  said, 
1  Rat,  you  are  by  far  the  silliest  to  help  the  Hare 
and  the  Mouse ;  it  is  true  they  sent  you  a  message 
about  the  gin,  but  that  was  not  for  love  of  you,  I 
am  sure,  and  I  can't  think  why  they  should  send  it ; 
but  you  may  depend  it  is  some  trick,  and  very  likely 
the  gin  is  not  where  they  said  at  all,  but  in  another 
place,  and  you  will  walk  into  it  when  you  are  not 
thinking,  and  then  you  will  curse  the  Hare  and  the 
Mouse/ 

" l  Ah/  said  the  Rat,  '  that  sounds  like  reason ; 
you  are  right,  the  Hare  and  the  Mouse  are  going  to 


62  WOOD     MAGIC. 

play  me  a  trick.  But  I  will  spite  them,  I  will  let 
you  out/ 

" '  Will  you  ? '  said  the  Weasel,  starting  up  and 
feeling  almost  strong  again.  'But  you  can't,  these 
stones  are  so  thick  you  cannot  move  them,  nor  scratch 
through  them,  nor  raise  them ;  no,  you  cannot  let  me 
out/ 

" '  Oh,  yes,  I  can/  said  the  Rat,  '  I  know  a  way 
to  move  the  biggest  stones,  and  if  you  can  only  wait 
a  day  or  two  I  will  make  this  chink  large  enough 
for  you  to  come  up/ 

" '  A  day  or  two/  said  the  Weasel  in  despair  ; 
'  why,  I  am  nearly  dead  now  with  hunger/ 

" '  Well,  then/  said  the  Rat,  '  gnaw  your  own 
tail ; '  and  off  he  went  laughing  at  the  joke.  The 
miserable  Weasel  cried  and  sniffed,  and  sniffed  and 
cried,  till  by-and-bye  he  heard  the  Rat  come  back 
and  begin  to  scratch  outside.  Presently  the  Rat 
stopped,  and  was  going  away  again,  when  the  Weasel 
begged  and  prayed  him  not  to  leave  him  to  die  there 
in  the  dark. 

" '  Very  well/  said  the  Rat,  ( I  will  send  the 
cricket  to  sing  to  you.  In  a  day  or  two  you  will 
see  the  chink  get  bigger,  and  meantime  you  can  eat 


ADVENTURES  OP  THE  WEASEL.          63 

your  tail ;  and  as  you  will  get  very  thin,  you  will  be 
able  to  creep  through  a  very  small  hole  and  get  out 
all  the  quicker.  Ha  !  ha  !  As  for  me,  I  am  going  to 
have  a  capital  dinner  from  Pan's  dish,  for  he  has 
fallen  asleep  in  his  tub/ 

"  So  the  Weasel  was  left  to  himself,  and  though  he 
watched  and  watched,  he  could  not  see  the  chink 
open  in  the  least,  and  he  got  so  dreadfully  hungry 
that  at  last,  after  sucking  his  paws,  he  was  obliged 
to  bring  his  tail  round  and  begin  to  gnaw  it  a  little 
bit.  The  pain  was  dreadful,  but  he  could  not  help 
himself,  he  was  obliged  to  do  it  or  die.  In  the 
evening  the  cricket  came,  as  the  Rat  had  promised, 
to  the  top  of  the  chink,  and  at  once  began  to  sing. 
He  sang  all  about  the  lady  cricket  with  whom  he 
was  in  love,  and  then  about  the  beautiful  stars  that 
were  shining  in  the  sky,  and  how  nice  it  was  to  be 
a  cricket,  for  the  crickets  were  by  far  the  most  hand- 
some and  clever  of  all  creatures,  and  everybody  would 
like  to  be  a  cricket  if  they  could. 

"  Next,  he  went  on  to  praise  himself,  that  his  lady 
might  hear  what  fine  limbs  he  had,  and  so  noble  a 
form,  and  such  a  splendid  chink  to  live  in.  Thus  he 
kept  on  the  livelong  night,  and  all  about  himself; 


64  WOOD    MAGIC. 

and  his  chirp,  chirp,  chirp  filled  the  Weasel's  prison 
with  such  a  noise  that  the  wretched  thing  could  not 
sleep.  He  kept  asking  the  cricket  to  tell  him  if  the 
Rat  had  really  done  anything  to  enlarge  the  chink; 
but  the  cricket  was  too  busy  to  answer  him  till  the 
dawn,  and  then,  having  finished  his  song,  he  found 
time  to  attend  to  the  Weasel. 

" '  You  have  been  very  rude/  he  said,  '  to  keep  on 
talking  while  I  was  singing,  but  I  suppose,  as  you  are 
only  an  ignorant  Weasel,  you  do  not  understand  good 
manners,  and  therefore  I  will  condescend  so  far  as  to 
inform  you  of  the  measures  taken  by  my  noble  friend 
the  Rat  to  get  you  out.  If  you  were  not  so  ex- 
tremely ignorant  and  stupid  you  would  guess  what 
he  has  done/ 

"  Now  all  this  was  very  bitter  to  the  Weasel,  who 
had  always  thought  he  knew  everything,  to  be  in- 
sulted by  a  cricket ;  still  he  begged  to  be  told  what 
it  was.  'The  Rat/  went  on  the  cricket,  'has 
brought  a  little  piece  from  a  fungus,  and  has 
scratched  a  hole  beside  the  stone  and  put  it  in  there. 
Now,  when  this  begins  to  grow  and  the  fungus 
pushes  up,  it  will  move  the  stone  and  open  a  chink. 
In  this  way  I  have  seen  my  lord  the  Rat  heave  up 


ADVENTURES    OF    THE    WEASEL.  65 

the  heaviest  paving  stones  and  make  a  road  for  him- 
self. Now  are  you  not  stupid  ? '  Then  the  cricket 
went  home  to  bed. 

"All  day  long  the  miserable  Weasel  lay  on  the 
floor  of  his  prison,  driven  every  now  and  then  to 
gnaw  his  tail  till  he  squeaked  with  the  pain.  The 
only  thing  that  kept  him  from  despair  was  the 
hope  of  the  revenge  he  would  have,  if  ever  he  did 
get  out,  on  those  who  had  laid  the  trap  for  him. 
For  hours  he  lay  insensible,  and  only  woke  up  when 
the  B/at  looked  down  the  chink  and  asked  him, 
with  a  jolly  chuckle,  how  his  tail  tasted,  and  then 
went  off  without  waiting  for  an  answer.  Then  the 
cricket  came  again,  and  taking  not  the  least  notice 
of  the  prisoner,  sang  all  night. 

"In  the  morning  the  Weasel  looked  up,  and  saw 
that  the  chink  had  really  opened.  He  crawled  to 
it,  he  was  so  faint  he  could  not  walk,  so  he  had 
to  crawl  over  the  floor,  which  was  all  red  with  his 
own  blood.  The  fungus,  a  thick,  yellowish-green 
thing,  like  a  very  large  and  unwholesome  mushroom, 
was  growing  fast,  so  fast  he  could  see  it  move,  and 
very  slowly  it  shoved  and  lifted  up  the  stone.  The 
chink  was  now  so  far  open  that  in  his  thin,  emaciated 


66  WOOD    MAGIC. 

state,  the  Weasel  could  have  got  through;  but  he 
was  so  weak  he  could  not  climb  up.  He  called  to 
the  Rat,  and  the  Rat  came  and  tried  to  reach  him, 
but  it  was  just  a  little  too  far  down. 

"'If  I  only  had  something  to  drink/  said  the 
Weasel,  'only  one  drop  of  water,  I  think  I  could 
do  it,  but  I  am  faint  from  thirst/ 

"Off  ran  the  Rat  to  see  what  he  could  do,  and 
as  he  passed  the  tub  where  Pan  lived  he  saw  a  bowl 
of  water  just  pumped  for  the  spaniel.  The  bowl 
was  of  wood,  with  a  projecting  handle — not  a  ring 
to  put  the  fingers  through,  but  merely  a  short 
straight  handle.  He  went  round  to  the  other  side 
of  the  tub  in  which  Pan  was  dozing  and  began 
to  scratch.  Directly  Pan  heard  the  scratching : — 

" '  Ho  !  ho  ! '  said  he,  '  that's  that  abominable 
Rat  that  steals  my  food/  and  he  darted  out,  and 
in  his  tremendous  hurry  his  chain  caught  the  handle 
of  the  bowl,  just  as  the  Rat  had  hoped  it  would. 
Over  went  the  bowl,  and  all  the  water  was  spilt, 
but  the  Rat,  the  instant  he  heard  Pan  coming,  had 
slipped  away  back  to  the  Weasel. 

"  When  Pan  was  tired  of  looking  where  he  had 
heard  the  scratching,  he  went  back  to  take  a  lap, 


ADVENTURES  OP  THE  WEASEL.          67 

but  found  the  bowl  upset,  and  that  all  the  water 
had  run  down  the  drain.  As  he  was  very  thirsty 
after  gnawing  a  salt  bacon-bone,  he  set  up  a  barking, 
and  the  dairy-maid  ran  out,  thinking  it  was  a 
beggar,  and  began  to  abuse  him  for  being  so  clumsy 
as  to  knock  over  his  bowl.  Pan  barked  all  the 
louder,  so  she  hit  him  with  the  handle  of  her  broom, 
and  he  went  howling  into  his  tub.  He  vowed 
vengeance  against  the  Rat,  but  that  did  not  satisfy 
his  thirst. 

"Meantime  the  water  had  run  along  the  drain, 
and  though  the  fungus  greedily  sucked  up  most  of 
it,  the  Weasel  had  a  good  drink.  After  that  he 
felt  better,  and  he  climbed  up  the  chink,  squeezing 
through  and  dragging  his  raw  tail  behind  him,  till 
he  nearly  reached  the  top.  But  there  it  was  still 
a  little  tight,  and  he  could  not  manage  to  push 
through,  not  having  strength  enough  left.  He  felt 
himself  slipping  back  again,  and  called  on  the  Rat 
to  save  him.  The  Rat  without  ceremony  leant 
down  the  chink,  and  caught  hold  of  his  ear  with 
his  teeth,  and  snipped  it  so  tight  he  bit  it  right 
through,  but  he  dragged  the  Weasel  out. 

"  There  he  lay  a  long  time  half  dead  and  exhausted, 
F  2 


68  WOOD     MAGIC. 

under  a  dock  leaf  which  hid  him  from  view.  The 
Rat  began  to  think  that  the  Weasel  would  die  after 
all,  so  he  came  and  said,  f  Wake  up,  coward,  and 
come  with  me  into  the  cart-house,  there  is  a  very  nice 
warm  hole  there,  and  I  will  tell  you  something ; 
if  you  stay  here  very  likely  the  Bailiff  may  see  you, 
and  if  Pan  should  be  let  loose  he  will  sniff  you  out 
in  a  second.'  So  the  Weasel,  with  very  great  difficulty, 
dragged  himself  into  the  cart-house,  and  found  shelter 
in  the  hole. 

"  Now  the  Rat,  though  he  had  helped  the  Weasel, 
did  not  half  like  him,  for  he  was  afraid  to  go  to 
sleep  while  the  Weasel  was  about,  lest  his  guest 
should  fasten  on  his  throat,  for  he  knew  he  was 
treacherous  to  the  last  degree.  He  cast  about  in 
his  mind  how  to  get  rid  of  him,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  serve  his  own  purpose.  By-and-by  he  said 
that  there  was  a  Mouse  in  the  cart-house  who  had 
a  very  plump  wife,  and  two  fat  little  mouses.  At 
this  the  Weasel  pricked  up  his  ears,  for  he  was  so 
terribly  hungry,  and  sat  up  and  asked  where  they 
were.  The  Rat  said  the  wife  and  the  children  were 
up  in  the  beam;  the  wood  had  rotted,  and  they 
had  a  hole  there,  but  he  was  afraid  the  Mouse  himself 


ADVENTURES    OF    THE    WEASEL.  69 

was  away  from  home  just  then,  most  likely  in  the 
corn-bin,  where  the  barley-meal  for  the  pigs  was 
kept. 

" '  Never  mind/  said  the  Weasel  eagerly,  '  the 
wife  and  the  baby  mice  will  do  very  well,'  and  up 
he  started  and  climbed  up  through  the  Rat's  hole 
in  the  wall  to  the  roof,  and  then  into  the  hole  in 
the  beam,  where  he  had  a  good  meal  on  the  mice. 
Now  the  Rat  hated  this  Mouse  because  he  lived  so 
near,  and  helped  himself  to  so  much  food,  and  being 
so  much  smaller,  he  could  get  about  inside  the  house 
where  you  live,  Bevis,  without  being  seen,  and  so 
got  very  fat,  and  made  the  Rat  jealous.  He  thought, 
too,  that  when  the  Weasel  had  eaten  the  wife  and 
the  babies,  that  he  would  be  strong  enough  to  go 
away.  Presently  the  Weasel  came  down  from  his 
meal,  and  looked  so  fierce  and  savage  that  the  Rat, 
strong  as  he  was,  was  still  more  anxious  to  get  rid 
of  him  as  quickly  as  possible. 

"He  told  the  Weasel  that  there  was  a  way  by 
which  he  could  get  to  the  corn-bin  without  the  least 
danger,  though  it  was  close  to  the  house,  and  there 
he  would  be  certain  to  find  the  Mouse  himself,  and 
very  likely  another  Miss  Mouse  whom  he  used  to 


70  WOOD    MAGIC. 

meet  there.  At  this  the  Weasel  was  so  excited  he 
could  hardly  wait  to  be  shown  the  way,  and  asked 
the  Rat  to  put  him  in  the  road  directly ;  he  was  so 
hungry  he  did  not  care  what  he  did.  Without  delay 
the  Rat  took  him  to  the  mouth  of  the  hole,  and  told 
him  to  stay  there  and  listen  a  minute  to  be  sure  that 
no  one  was  coming.  If  he  could  not  hear  any  foot- 
steps, all  he  had  to  do  was  to  rush  across  the  road 
there,  only  two  or  three  yards,  to  the  rough  grass, 
the  dandelions,  and  the  docks  opposite.  Just  there 
there  was  an  iron  grating  made  in  the  wall  of  the 
house  to  let  in  the  air  and  keep  the  rats  out;  but 
one  of  the  bars  had  rusted  off  and  was  broken,  and 
that  was  the  Mouse's  track  to  the  corn  bin. 

"  The  Weasel  put  out  his  head,  glanced  round,  saw 
no  one,  and  without  waiting  to  listen  rushed  out  into 
the  roadway.  In  an  instant  the  Rat  pushed  against 
a  small  piece  of  loose  stone,  which  he  kept  for  the 
purpose,  and  it  fell  down  and  shut  up  the  mouth  of 
his  hole.  As  the  Weasel  was  running  across  the 
roadway  suddenly  one  of  the  labourers  came  round 
the  corner  with  a  bucket  of  food  for  the  pigs. 
Frightened  beyond  measure,  the  Weasel  hastened 
back  to  the  Rat's  hole,  but  could  not  get  in  because 


ADVENTURES  OF  THE  WEASEL.          71 

of  the  stone.  Not  knowing  what  to  do,  he  ran 
round  the  carthouse,  where  there  was  some  grass 
under  the  wall,  with  the  man  coming  close  behind 
him.  Now  it  was  just  there  that  the  Bailiff  had  set 
the  gin  for  the  Rat,  near  the  mouth  of  the  drain, 
but  the  Rat  knew  all  about  it,  and  used  the  other 
hole. 

"  The  grass,  knowing  that  we  wished  to  drive  the 
Weasel  that  way  into  the  gin,  had  tried  to  grow 
faster  and  hide  the  trap,  but  could  not  get  on  very 
well  because  the  weather  was  so  dry.  But  that  morn- 
ing, when  the  Rat  upset  Pan's  bowl  of  water,  and 
it  ran  down  the  drain,  some  part  of  it  reached  the 
roots  of  the  grass  and  moistened  them,  then  the 
grass  shot  up  quick  and  quite  hid  the  trap,  except 
one  little  piece.  Now,  seeing  the  Weasel  rushing 
along  in  his  fright,  the  grass  was  greatly  excited, 
but  did  not  know  what  to  do  to  hide  this  part,  so 
the  grass  whispered  to  his  friend  the  Wind  to  come 
to  his  help. 

"This  the  Wind  was  very  ready  to  do,  for  this 
reason — he  hated  to  smell  the  decaying  carcases  of 
the  poor  creatures  the  Weasel  killed,  and  left  to  rot 
and  to  taint  the  air,  so  that  it  quite  spoilt  his  morn- 


72  WOOD    MAGIC. 

ing  ramble  over  the  fields.  With  a  puff  the  Wind 
came  along  and  blew  a  dead  leaf,  one  of  last  year's 
leaves,  over  the  trap,  and  so  hid  it  completely. 

"The  Weasel  saw  the  mouth  of  the  drain,  and 
thinking  to  be  safe  in  a  minute  darted  at  it,  and 
was  snapped  up  by  the  gin.  The  sudden  shock  de- 
prived him  of  sense  or  motion,  and  well  for  him  it 
did,  for  had  he  squeaked  or  moved  ever  so  little  the 
man  with  the  bucket  must  have  seen  or  heard  him. 
After  a  time  he  came  to  himself,  and  again  began  to 
beg  the  Rat  to  help  him ;  but  the  Rat,  having  had 
his  revenge  on  the  Mouse,  did  not  much  care  to 
trouble  about  it,  and,  besides,  he  remembered  how 
very  wolfish  and  fierce  the  Weasel  had  looked  at  him 
when  in  his  hole.  At  least  he  thought  he  would  have 
a  night's  sleep  in  comfort  first,  for  he  had  been 
afraid  to  sleep  a  wink  with  the  Weasel  so  near.  Now 
the  Weasel  was  in  the  gin  he  could  have  a  nap. 

"  All  night  long  the  Weasel  was  in  the  gin,  and 
to  a  certainty  he  would  have  been  seen — for  the 
Bailiff  would  have  been  sure  to  come  and  look  at  his 
trap — but  if  you  remember,  Bevis,  dear,  that  was  the 
very  day  you  were  lost  (while  asleep  under  the  oak), 
and  everything  was  confusion,  and  the  gin  was  for- 


ADVENTURES  OF  THE  WEASEL.          73 

gotten.  Well,  in  the  morning  the  Weasel  begged  so 
piteously  of  the  Rat  to  help  him  again,  that  the  Rat 
began  to  think  he  would,  now  he  had  had  a  good 
sleep,  when  just  as  he  was  peeping  out  along  you 
came,  Bevis,  dear,  and  found  the  Weasel  in  the  gin. 

"  Now,  I  daresay  you  remember  the  talk  you  had 
with  the  Weasel,  and  what  the  Mouse  said ;  well,  the 
Rat  was  listening  all  the  while,  and  he  heard  the 
Weasel  say  to  you  that  he  always  killed  the  rats. 
'  Aha  ! '  thought  the  Rat,  c  catch  me  helping  you 
again,  sir;'  and  the  Weasel  heard  him  say  it.  So 
when  you  stepped  on  the  spring  and  loosed  the 
Weasel,  he  did  not  dare  go  into  the  drain,  knowing 
that  the  Rat  (while  awake)  was  stronger  than  he, 
but  hobbled  as  well  as  he  could  across  to  the  wood- 
pile. There  he  stopped,  exhausted,  and  stiff  from  his 
wounds.  Meantime  the  Rat  deliberated  how  best  he 
could  drive  the  treacherous  Weasel  away  from  the 
place. 

"  At  night,  accordingly,  he  cautiously  left  his  hole 
and  went  across  to  the  tub  where  Pan  was  sleeping, 
curled  up  comfortably  within.  The  end  of  Pan's 
chain,  where  it  was  fastened  to  the  staple  outside  the 
tub,  was  not  of  iron,  but  tar-cord.  The  last  link 


74  WOOD    MAGIC. 

had  been  broken,  and  it  was  therefore  tied  in  this 
manner.  The  rat  easily  gnawed  through  the  tar- 
cord,  and  then  slipped  back  to  his  hole  to  await 
events.  About  the  middle  of  the  night,  when  the 
Weasel  had  rested  and  began  to  stir  out,  Pan  woke 
up,  and  seeing  that  it  was  light,  stepped  out  to  bay 
at  the  moon.  He  immediately  found  that  his  chain 
was  undone,  and  rushed  about  to  try  and  find  some 
water,  being  very  thirsty.  He  had  not  gone  very 
far  before  he  smelt  the  Weasel,  and  instantly  began 
to  chase  him.  The  Weasel,  however,  slipped  under 
a  faggot,  and  so  across  and  under  the  wood-pile, 
where  he  was  safe;  but  he  was  so  alarmed  that 
presently  he  crept  out  the  other  side,  and  round 
by  the  pig-stye,  and  so  past  the  stable  to  the  rick-yard, 
and  then  into  the  hedge,  and  he  never  stopped  run- 
ning, stiff  as  he  was,  till  he  was  half-a-mile  away 
in  the  ash  copse,  and  had  crept  into  a  rabbit's  hole. 
He  could  not  have  got  away  from  the  wood-pile, 
only  Pan,  being  so  thirsty,  gave  up  looking  for 
him,  and  went  down  to  the  brook. 

"  In  the  morning,  as  they  thought  Pan  had  broken 
his  chain,  they  kicked  the  spaniel  howling  into  his 
tub  again.  And  now  comes  the  sad  part  of  it,  Bevis, 


ADVENTUKES  OP  THE  WEASEL.          75 

dear.  You  must  know  that  when  the  Weasel  was 
in  the  trap  we  all  thought  it  was  quite  safe,  and 
that  our  enemy  was  done  for  at  last,  and  so  we 
went  off  to  a  dancing-party,  on  the  short  grass 
of  the  downs  by  moonlight,  leaving  our  leverets  to 
nibble  near  the  wheat.  We  stayed  at  the  dancing- 
party  so  late  that  the  dawn  came  and  we  were  afraid 
to  go  home  in  the  daylight,  and  next  night  we  all 
felt  so  merry  we  had  another  dance,  and  again 
danced  till  it  was  morning. 

"  While  we  were  sleeping  in  the  day,  the  Weasel, 
having  now  recovered  a  good  deal,  crept  out  from 
the  rabbit-hole  in  the  copse.  We  were  so  far  off, 
you  see,  the  mice  could  not  send  us  word  that  he 
had  escaped  from  the  gin  in  time,  and  indeed,  none 
of  them  knew  exactly  where  to  find  us;  they  told 
the  swallows,  and  the  swallows  searched,  but  missed 
us.  The  Wind,  too,  blew  as  many  ways  as  he  could 
to  try  and  reach  us,  but  he  had  to  blow  east  that 
day,  and  could  not  manage  it.  If  we  had  only  been 
at  home  we  should  have  been  on  the  watch;  but 
my  poor  leveret,  and  my  two  friends'  poor  leverets, 
were  sleeping  so  comfortably  when  the  wicked 
Weasel  stole  on  them  one  by  one,  and  bit  their  necks 


76  WOOD    MAGIC. 

and  killed  them.  He  could  not  eat  them,  nor  half 
of  them,  he  only  killed  them  for  revenge,  and  oh ! 
dear  little  Sir  Be  vis,  what  shall  I  do?  what  shall 
I  do?" 

"I  will  kill  the  Weasel,"  said  Bevis.  "He  is 
dreadfully  wicked.  I  will  shoot  him  this  minute 
with  my  bow  and  arrow." 

But  when  he  looked  round  he  had  got  neither 
of  them ;  he  had  dropped  the  bow  in  the  Home  Field 
when  he  jumped  into  the  ditch  to  scramble  through 
the  hedge,  and  he  had  wandered  so  far  among  the 
cowslips  that  he  could  not  see  the  arrow.  Bevis 
looked  all  round  again,  and  did  not  recognise  any 
of  the  trees,  nor  the  hedges,  nor  could  he  see  the 
house  nor  the  ricks,  nor  anything  that  he  knew. 
His  face  flushed  up,  and  the  tears  came  into  his 
eyes;  he  was  lost. 

"Don't  cry/'  said  the  Hare,  much  pleased  at 
the  eagerness  with  which  he  took  up  the  quarrel 
against  the  Weasel ;  "  don't  cry,  darling,  I  will 
show  you  the  way  home  and  where  to  find  your 
arrow.  It  is  not  very  far,  though  you  cannot  see 
it  because  of  the  ground  rising  between  you  and  it. 
But  will  you  really  kill  the  Weasel  next  time?" 


ADVENTUBES  OF  THE  WEASEL.          77 

"  Yes,  indeed  I  will/'  said  Bevis,  "  I  will  shoot 
my  arrow  and  kill  him  quite  dead  in  a  minute/' 

"  But  I  am  not  sure  you  can  hit  him  with  your 
arrow ;  don't  you  remember  that  you  could  not  hit 
the  greenfinches  nor  the  rook  ?  " 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Bevis,  "  if  you  will  wait 
till  I  am  a  man,  papa  will  lend  me  his  gun,  and 
then  I  can  certainly  kill  him." 

"  But  that  will  be  such  a  long  time,  Sir  Bevis ; 
did  not  your  papa  tell  you  you  would  have  to  eat 
another  peck  of  salt  before  you  could  have  a 
gun?" 

"  Then  I  know  what  I  will  do,"  said  Bevis,  "  I 
will  shoot  the  Weasel  with  my  brass  cannon.  Ah, 
that  is  the  way !  And  I  know  where  papa  keeps 
his  gunpowder ;  it  is  in  a  tin  canister  on  the  topmost 
shelf,  and  I  will  tell  you  how  I  climb  up  there. 
First,  I  bring  the  big  arm-chair,  and  then  I  put 
the  stool  on  that,  and  then  I  stand  on  the  lowest 
shelf,  and  I  can  just  reach  the  canister." 

"  Take  care,  Sir  Bevis,"  said  the  Hare,  "  take 
care,  and  do  not  open  the  canister  where  there  is  a 
fire  in  the  room,  or  a  candle,  because  a  spark  may 
blow  you  up  just  when  you  are  not  thinking." 


78  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"  Oh  !  I  know  all  about  that ;  Fll  take  care/'  said 
Bevis,  "  and  I  will  shoot  the  wretch  of  a  Weasel  in 
no  time.  Now  please  show  me  the  way  home." 

"  So  I  will;  you  stay  there  till  I  come  to  you, 
I  will  run  round  by  the  gateway." 

"Why  not  come  straight  through  the  hedge?" 
said  Bevis,  "  you  could  easily  creep  through,  I'm 
sure." 

"  No,   dear.      I  must   not    come    that  way,  that 
road  belongs  to   another  hare,  and   I  must  not   tres- 
pass." 

"  But  you  can  run  where  you  like — can  you  not  ?  " 
"  Oh,  dear  no ;  all  the  hares  have  different  roads, 
Sir  Bevis,  and  if  I  were  to  run  along  one  of  theirs 
that  did  not  belong  to  me,  to-night  they  would  bite 
me  and  thump  me  with  their  paws  till  I  was  all 
bruised." 

"  I  can't  see  any  path,"  said  Bevis,  "  you  can 
run  where  you  like  in  the  field,  I'm  sure." 

"  No,  I  can't  dear ;  I  shall  have  to  go  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  round  to  .come  to  you,  because  there  are 
three  paths  between  you  and  me,  and  I  shall  have  to 
turn  and  twist  about  not  to  come  on  them." 

While  Bevis   was   thinking  about  this,  and   how 


ADVENTURES  OP  THE  WEASEL.          79 

stupid  it  was  of  the  hares  to  have  roads,  the  Hare 
ran  off,  and  in  two  or  three  minutes  came  to  him 
through  the  cowslips.  "  Oh,  you  pretty  creature  !  " 
said  Sir  Bevis,  stooping  down  and  stroking  her  back, 
and  playing  with  the  tips  of  her  long  ears,  "  Oh,  I 
do  love  you  so !  "  At  this  the  Hare  was  still  more 
pleased,  and  rubbed  her  head  against  Bevis's  hand. 

"  Now/'  she  said,  "  you  must  come  along  quickly, 
because  I  dare  not  stay  on  this  short  grass,  lest  some 
dog  should  see  me.  Follow  me,  dear."  She  went  on 
before  him,  and  Bevis  ran  behind,  and  in  a  minute  or 
two  they  went  over  the  rising  ground,  past  the  tall 
stone  (put  there  for  the  cows  to  rub  their  sides  against), 
and  then  the  Hare  stopped  and  showed  Bevis  the  great 
oak  tree,  where  he  once  went  to  sleep.  She  told  him 
to  look  at  it  well,  and  recollect  the  shape  of  it,  so  that 
another  time  he  could  find  his  way  home  by  the  tree. 
Then  she  told  him  to  walk  straight  to  the  tree,  and 
on  his  way  there  he  would  find  the  arrow,  and  close 
by  the  tree  was  the  gap  in  the  hedge,  and  when  he 
got  through  the  gap,  he  would  see  the  house  and  the 
ricks,  and  if  he  followed  the  ditch  then  he  would 
presently  come  to  the  place  where  he  dropped  his 
bow. 


80  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Bevis,  "  I  will  run  as  fast  as  I 
can,  for  I  am  sure  it  must  be  nearly  dinner  time. 
Good-bye,  you  pretty  creature ; "  and  having  stroked 
her  ears  just  once  more,  off  he  started.  In  a  few 
minutes  he  found  his  arrow,  and  looked  back  to  show 
it  to  the  Hare,  but  she  was  gone;  so  he  went  on  to 
the  oak,  got  through  the  gap,  and  there  was  the  house 
at  the  other  side  of  the  field.  He  could  hear  Pan 
barking,  so  he  felt  quite  at  home,  and  walked  along 
the  ditch  till  he  picked  up  his  bow.  He  was  very 
hungry  when  he  got  home,  and  yet  he  was  glad  when 
the  dinner  was  over,  that  he  might  go  to  the  cup- 
board and  get  his  brass  cannon. 

When  he  came  to  examine  the  cannon,  and  to 
think  about  shooting  the  "Weasel  with  it,  he  soon 
found  that  it  would  not  do  very  well,  because  he 
could  not  hold  it  in  his  hand  and  point  it  straight, 
and  when  it  went  off  it  would  most  likely  burn  his 
fingers.  But  looking  at  his  papa's  gun  he  saw  that 
the  barrel,  where  the  powder  is  put  in,  was  fixed  in 
a  wooden  handle  called  the  stock,  so  he  set  to  work 
with  his  pocket  knife  to  make  a  handle  for  his 
cannon.  He  cut  a  long  thick  willow  stick,  choosing 
the  willow  because  it  was  soft  and  easiest  to  cut,  and 


ADVENTUEES  OF  THE  WEASEL.          81 

chipped  away  till  he  had  made  a  groove  in  it 'at  one 
end  in  which  he  put  the  cannon,  fastening  it  in  with 
a  piece  of  thin  copper  wire  twisted  round.  Next  he 
cut  a  ramrod,  and  then  he  loaded  his  gun,  and  fired 
it  off  with  a  match  to  see  how  it  went. 

This  he  did  at  the  bottom  of  the  orchard,  a  long 
way  from  the  house,  for  he  was  afraid  that  if  they 
saw  what  he  was  doing  they  might  take  it  from  him, 
so  he  kept  it  hidden  in  the  summer-house  under  an 
old  sack.  The  cannon  went  off  with  a  good  bang, 
and  the  shot  he  had  put  in  it  stuck  in  the  bark  of 
an  apple  tree.  Bevis  jumped  about  with  delight, 
and  thought  he  could  now  kill  the  Weasel.  It  was 
too  late  to  start  that  day,  but  the  next  morning  off 
he  marched  with  his  gun  into  the  Home  Field,  and 
having  charged  it  behind  the  shelter  of  a  tree  out 
of  sight,  began  his  chase  for  the  Weasel. 

All  round  the  field  he  went,  looking  carefully  into 
the  ditch  and  the  hedge,  and  asking  at  all  the  rab- 
bits'-holes  if  they  knew  where  the  scoundrel  was. 
The  rabbits  knew  very  well,  but  they  were  afraid  to 
answer,  lest  the  Weasel  should  hear  about  it,  and 
come  and  kill  the  one  that  had  betrayed  him.  Twice 
he  searched  up  and  down  without  success,  and  was 


82  WOOD    MAGIC. 

just  going  to  call  to  the  Hare  to  come  and  show 
him,  when  suddenly  he  discovered  a  thrush  sitting 
on  her  nest  in  a  bush.  He  put  down  his  gun,  and 
was  going  to  see  how  many  eggs  she  had  got,  when 
the  Weasel  (who  had  no  idea  he  was  there)  peeped 
over  the  bank,  having  a  fancy  for  the  eggs,  but 
afraid  that  the  nest  was  too  high  for  him  to  reach. 
"  Ho !  Ho ! "  cried  Bevis,  "there  you  are.  Now  I 
have  you.  Just  stand  still  a  minute,  while  I  get 
my  gun  and  strike  a  match." 

"  Whatever  for  ? "  asked  the  Weasel,  very  inno- 
cently. 

"I'm  going  to  shoot  you/'  said  Bevis,  busy 
getting  his  gun  ready. 

"  Shoot  me  \ "  said  the  Weasel,  in  a  tone  of  the 
utmost  astonishment ;  "  why  ever  do  you  want  to 
shoot  me,  Sir  Bevis?  Did  I  not  tell  you  that  I 
spent  all  my  life  doing  good?" 

"Yes,  you  rascal!"  said  Bevis,  putting  a  pinch 
of  powder  on  the  touch-hole,  "you  know  you  are  a 
wicked  story-teller;  you  killed  the  poor  leveret  after 
I  let  you  loose.  Now ! "  and  he  went  down  on  one 
knee,  and  put  his  cannon-stick  on  the  other  as  a 
rest  to  keep  it  straight. 


ADVENTURES  OP  THE  WEASEL.          83 

"Wait  a  minute/'  said  the  Weasel,  "just  listen 
to  me  a  minute.  I  assure  you " 

"  No  ;  I  sha'n't  listen  to  you/'  said  Bevis, 
striking  his  match. 

"  Oh,"  said  the  Weasel,  kneeling  down,  "  if  you 
will  only  wait  one  second,  I  will  tell  you  all  the 
wickedness  I  have  committed.  Don't,  please,  kill 
me  before  I  have  got  this  load  of  guilt  off  my 
mind." 

"Well,  make  haste/'  said  Bevis,  aiming  along 
his  cannon. 

"  I  will,"  said  the  Weasel ;  "  and  first  of  all,  if 
you  are  going  to  kill  me,  why  don't  you  shoot  the 
thrush  as  well,  for  she  is  ever  so  much  more  wicked 
and  cruel  than  I  have  been?" 

"  Oh,  what  a  dreadful  story  ! "  said  the  thrush. 
"  How  can  you  say  so  ? " 

"  Yes,  you  are/'  said  the  Weasel.  "  Sir  Bevis, 
you  remember  the  two  snails  you  found  in  the 
garden  path — those  you  put  on  a  leaf,  and  watched 
to  see  which  could  crawl  the  fastest  ? " 

<{  I  remember,"  said  Sir  Bevis.  "  But  you  must 
make  haste,  or  my  match  will  burn  out." 

"  And  you  recollect  that  the  snails  had  no  legs, 
G  Z 


84  WOOD    MAGIC. 

and  could  not  walk,  and  that  they  had  no  wings 
and  could  not  fly,  and  were  very  helpless  crea- 
tures ?" 

"Yes,  I  remember;  I  left  them  on  the  path." 

"Well,  directly  you  left  them,  out  came  this 
great  ugly  speckled  thrush  from  the  shrubbery — you 
see  how  big  the  thrush  is,  quite  a  monster  beside 
the  poor  snails ;  and  you  see  what  long  legs  she 
has,  and  great  wings,  and  such  a  strong,  sharp  beak. 
This  cruel  monster  of  a  thrush  picked  up  the  snails, 
one  at  a  time,  and  smashed  them  on  the  stones,  and 
gobbled  them  up." 

l(  "Well,"  said  the  thrush,  much  relieved,  "  is 
that  all  ?  snails  are  very  nice  to  eat." 

"  Was  it  not  brutally  cruel  ? "  asked  the  Weasel. 

"  Yes,  it  was,"  said  Bevis. 

"  Then,"  said  the  Weasel,  "  when  you  shoot  me, 
shoot  the  thrush  too." 

"  So  I  will,"  said  Bevis,  "  but  how  can  I  hit  you 
both?" 

"  I  will  show  you,"  said  the  Weasel.  "  I  will 
walk  along  the  bank  till  I  am  just  in  a  line  with 
the  thrush's  nest,  and  then  you  can  take  aim  at 
both  together." 


ADVENTURES  OF  THE  WEASEL.          85 

So  he  went  along  the  bank  and  stopped  behind 
the  nest,  and  Bevis  moved  his  cannon-stick  and  took 
another  aim. 

"  Dear  me  !"  cried  the  thrush,  dreadfully  alarmed, 
"  you  surely  are  not  going  to  shoot  me  ?  I  never 
did  any  harm.  Bevis,  stop — listen  to  me  V 

Now  if  the  thrush  had  flown  away  she  might 
have  escaped,  but  she  was  very  fond  of  talking,  and 
while  she  was  talking  Bevis  was  busy  getting  his 
gun  ready. 

"It  is  straight  now/'    said    the  Weasel ;    "  it   is 
pointed   quite   straight.      Hold   it   still  there,  and  I 
will    sit    so    that   I   shall    die   quick  : — here    is    my 
bosom.     Tell  the  Hare  to  forgive  me." 
"Oh/'  said  the  thrash,  "don't  shoot!" 
"  Shoot ! "  cried  the  Weasel. 
Bevis  dropped   his  match  on  the  touch-hole,  puff 
went    the    priming,    and    bang    went    the     cannon. 
Directly  the  smoke   had  cleared   away,  Bevis   looked 
in  the  ditch,  to  see  the  dead  Weasel  and  the  thrush. 
There  was  the  thrush  right  enough,  quite  dead,  and 
fallen  out  of   the  nest ;    the   nest,  too,  was  knocked 
to   pieces,  and    the   eggs  had    fallen    out    (two  were 
broken),  but  there  was  one  not  a  bit  smashed,  lying 


86  WOOD    MAGIC. 

on    the    dead    leaves    at   the    bottom    of   the    ditch. 
But  the  Weasel  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 

"  Weasel/'  cried  Bevis,  "  where  are  you  ?  "  But 
the  Weasel  did  not  answer.  Bevis  looked  every- 
where, over  the  bank  and  round  about,  but  could  not 
find  him.  At  last  he  saw  that  under  some  grass  on 
the  bank  there  was  a  small  rabbit's  hole.  Now  the 
Weasel  had  sat  up  for  Bevis  to  shoot  him  right 
over  this  hole,  and  when  he  saw  him  move  the 
match,  just  as  the  priming  went  puff,  the  Weasel 
dropped  down  into  the  hole,  and  the  shot  went  over 
his  head. 

Bevis  was  very  angry  when  he  saw  how  the 
Weasel  had  deceived  him,  and  felt  so  sorry  for  the 
poor  thrush,  whose  speckled  breast  was  all  pierced 
by  the  shot,  and  who  would  never  sing  any  more. 
He  did  not  know  what  to  do,  he  was  so  cross ;  but 
presently  he  ran  home  to  fetch  Pan,  to  see  if  Pan 
could  hunt  out  the  Weasel. 

When  he  had  gone  a  little  way  the  Weasel  came 
out  of  the  hole,  and  went  down  into  the  ditch  and 
feasted  on  the  thrush's  egg,  which  he  could  not 
have  got  had  not  the  shot  knocked  the  nest  to  pieces, 
just  as  he  had  contrived.  He  never  tasted  so  sweet 


ADVENTURES  OP  THE  WEASEL.          87 

an-  egg  as  that  one,  and  as  he  sucked  it  up  he  laughed 
as  he  thought  how  cleverly  he  had  deceived  them 
all.  When  he  heard  Pan  bark  he  went  back  into 
the  hole,  and  so  along  the  hedge  till  he  reached  the 
copse ;  and  then  creeping  into  another  hole,  a  very 
small  one,  where  no  dog  could  get  at  him,  he  curled 
himself  up  very  comfortably  and  went  to  sleep. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

BROOK-FOLK. 

SOME  time  afterwards  it  happened  one  morning  that 
Bevis  was  sitting  on  a  haycock  in  the  Home  Field, 
eating  a  very  large  piece  of  cake,  and  thinking  how 
extremely  greedy  the  young  rook  was  yonder  across 
the  meadow.  For  he  was  as  big  and  as  black  as  his 
father  and  mother,  who  were  with  him ;  and  yet  he 
kept  on  cawing  to  them  to  stuff  his  beak  with  sweets. 
Bevis,  who  had  another  large  slice  in  his  pocket, 
having  stolen  both  of  them  from  the  cupboard  just 
after  breakfast,  felt  angry  to  see  such  greediness,  and 
was  going  to  get  up  to  holloa  at  this  ill-mannered 
rook,  when  he  heard  a  grasshopper  making  some 
remarks  close  by  the  haycock. 

"  S s,"   said    the    grasshopper    to     a    friend, 

"are  you  going  down  to  the  brook?  I  am,  in  a 
minute,  so  soon  as  I  have  hopped  round  this  hay- 
cock, for  there  will  be  a  grand  show  there  presently. 
All  the  birds  are  going  to  bathe,  as  is  their  custom 


BROOK-FOLK.  89 

on  Midsummer  Day,  and  will  be  sure  to  appear  in 
their  best  feathers.  It  is  true  some  of  them  have 
bathed  already,  as  they  have  to  leave  early  in  the 
morning,  having  business  elsewhere.  I  spoke  to  the 
cricket  just  now  on  the  subject,  but  he  could  not 
see  that  it  was  at  all  interesting.  He  is  very  narrow- 
minded,  as  you  know,  and  cannot  see  anything 
beyond  the  mound  where  he  lives.  S s." 

"  S s,"    replied    the    other    grasshopper ;    "  I 

will  certainly  jump  that  way  so  soon  as  I  have 
had  a  chat  with  my  lady-love,  who  is  waiting  for 
me  on  the  other  side  of  the  furrow.  S s." 

"S s,     we     shall    meet     by     the     drinking- 

place,"  said  the  first  grasshopper;  and  was  just 
hopping  off  when  Bevis  asked  him  what  the  birds 
went  down  to  bathe  for. 

"  I'm  sure  I  do  not  know/'  said  the  grasshopper, 
speaking  fast,  for  he  was  rather  in  a  hurry  to  be 
gone,  he  never  could  stand  still  long  together.  "  All 
I  can  tell  you  is  that  on  Midsummer  Day  every  one 
of  the  birds  has  to  go  down  to  the  brook  and  walk 
in  and  bathe ;  and  it  has  been  the  law  for  so  many, 
many  years  that  no  one  can  remember  when  it 
began.  They  like  it  very  much,  because  they  can 


90  WOOD    MAGIC. 

show  off  their  fine  feathers,  which  are  just  now  in 
full  colour ;  and  if  you  like  to  go  with  me  you  will 
be  sure  to  enjoy  it." 

"  So  I  will/'  said  Bevis,  and  he  followed  the 
grasshopper,  who  hopped  so  far  at  every  step  that 
he  had  to  walk  fast  to  keep  up  with  him.  "But 
why  do  the  birds  do  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know  why/'  said  the  grasshopper ; 
"what  is  why?" 

"  I  want  to  know,"  said  Bevis,  "  why  do  they 
do  it?" 

' '  Why  ?  "  repeated  the  grasshopper,  "  I  never 
heard  any  body  say  anything  about  that  before. 
There  is  always  a  great  deal  of  talking  going  on, 
for  the  trees  have  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  gossip 
with  each  other;  but  they  never  ask  why." 

After  that  they  went  on  in  silence  a  good  way, 
except  that  the  grasshopper  cried  "S — s,"  to  his 
friends  in  the  grass  as  he  passed,  and  said  good 
morning  also  to  a  mole  who  peeped  out  for  a 
moment. 

"Why  don't  you  hop  straight?"  said  Bevis 
presently.  "  It  seems  to  me  that  you  hop  first 
one  side  and  then  the  other,  and  go  in  such  a 


BROOK-FOLK.  91 

zig-zag   fashion   it  will   take   us  hours   to  reach  the 
brook." 

"  How  very  stupid  you  are/'  said  the  grasshopper. 
"  If  you  go  straight  of  course  you  can  only  see 
just  what  is  under  your  feet,  but  if  you  go  first 
this  way  and  then  that,  then  you  see  everything. 
You  are  nearly  as  silly  as  the  ants,  who  never  see 
anything  beautiful  all  their  lives.  Be  sure  you  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  ants,  Bevis,  they  are  a  mean, 
wretched,  miserly  set,  quite  contemptible  and  beneath 
notice.  Now  I  go  everywhere  all  round  the  field, 
and  spend  my  time  searching  for  lovely  things ; 
sometimes  I  find  flowers,  and  sometimes  the  butter- 
flies come  down  into  the  grass  and  tell  me  the  news, 
and  I  am  so  fond  of  the  sunshine,  I  sing  to  it  all 
day  long.  Tell  me,  now,  is  there  anything  so  beauti- 
ful as  the  sunshine  and  the  blue  sky,  and  the  green 
grass,  and  the  velvet  and  blue  and  spotted  butter- 
flies, and  the  trees  which  cast  such  a  pleasant  shadow 
and  talk  so  sweetly,  and  the  brook  which  is  always 
running  ?  I  should  like  to  listen  to  it  for  a  thousand 
years." 

"I  like  you,"  said  Bevis;  "jump  into  my  hand, 
and  I  will  carry  you."     He  held  his  hand  out  flat, 


92  WOOD    MAGIC. 

and  in  a  second  up  sprang  the  grasshopper,  and 
alighted  on  his  palin,  and  told  him  the  way  to  go, 
and  thus  they  went  together  merrily. 

"  Are  you  sure  the  ants  are  so  very  stupid 
and  wicked  ? "  asked  Bevis,  when  the  grasshopper 
had  guided  him  through  a  gateway  into  the  meadow 
by  the  brook. 

"Indeed  I  am.  It  is  true  they  declare  that  it 
is  I  who  am  wrong,  and  never  lose  a  chance  of 
chattering  at  me,  because  they  are  always  laying 
up  a  store,  and  I  wander  about,  laughing  and 
singing.  But  then  you  see,  Bevis,  dear,  they  are 
quite  demented,  and  so  led  away  by  their  greedy, 
selfish  wishes  that  they  do  not  even  know  that  there 
is  a  sun.  They  say  they  cannot  see  it,  and  do  not 
believe  there  is  any  sunshine,  nor  do  they  believe 
there  are  any  stars.  Now  I  do  not  sing  at  night, 
but  I  always  go  where  I  can  see  a  star.  I  slept 
under  a  mushroom  last  night,  and  he  told  me  he 
was  pushing  up  as  fast  as  he  could  before  some  one 
came  and  picked  him  to  put  on  a  gridiron.  I  do 
not  lay  up  any  store,  because  I  know  I  shall  die 
when  the  summer  ends,  and  what  is  the  use  of  wealth 
then  ?  My  store  and  my  wealth  is  the  sunshine,  dear, 


BROOK-FOLK.  93 

and  the  blue  sky,  and  the  green  grass,  and  the 
delicious  brook  who  never  ceases  sing,  sing,  singing 
all  day  and  night.  And  all  the  things  are  fond  of 
me,  the  grass  and  the  flowers,  and  the  birds,  and 
the  animals,  all  of  them  love  me.  So  you  see  I  am 
richer  than  all  the  ants  put  together." 

"  I  would  rather  be  you  than  an  ant,"  said  Bevis, 
"  I  think  I  shall  take  you  home  and  put  you  under 
a  glass  case  on  the  mantel-piece." 

Off  jumped  the  grasshopper  in  a  moment,  and 
fell  so  lightly  on  the  grass  it  did  not  hurt  him 
in  the  least,  though  it  was  as  far  as  if  Bevis  had 
tumbled  down  out  of  the  clouds.  Bevis  tried  to 
catch  him,  but  he  jumped  so  nimbly  this  way  and 
that,  and  hopped  to  and  fro,  and  lay  down  in  the 
grass,  so  that  his  green  coat  could  not  be  seen. 
Bevis  got  quite  hot  trying  to  catch  him,  and  seeing 
this,  the  grasshopper,  much  delighted,  cried  out, 
"Are  you  not  the  stupid  boy  everybody  is  laugh- 
ing at  for  letting  the  Weasel  go  ?  You  will  never 
cntch  the  Weasel." 

"  Til  stamp  on  you/'  said  Bevis,  in  a  great  rage. 

' '  S s,"    called    the     grasshopper  —  who     was 

frightened  at  this — to   his  friends,  and  in  a  minute 


94  WOOD    MAGIC. 

there  were  twenty  of  them  jumping  all  round  in  every 
direction,  and  as  they  were  all  just  alike  Bevis  did 
not  know  which  to  run  after.  When  he  looked  up 
there  was  the  brook  close  by,  and  the  drinking-place 
where  the  birds  were  to  meet  and  bathe.  It  was  a 
spot  where  the  ground  shelved  gently  down  from 
the  grass  to  the  brook ;  the  stream  was  very  shallow 
and  flowed  over  the  sandy  bottom  with  a  gentle 
murmur. 

He  went  down  to  the  brook  and  stood  on  the 
bank,  where  it  was  high  near  a  bush  at  the  side  of  the 
drinking-place.  "  Ah,  dear  little  Sir  Bevis  !  "  whis- 
pered a  Reed,  bending  towards  him  as  the  Wind  blew, 
"  please  do  not  come  any  nearer,  the  bank  is  steep 
and  treacherous,  and  hollow  underneath  where  the 
water-rats  run.  So  do  not  lean  over  after  the  for- 
get-me-nots— they  are  too  far  for  you.  Sit  down 
where  you  are,  behind  that  little  bush,  and  I  will  tell 
you  all  about  the  bathing."  Bevis  sat  down  and 
picked  a  June  rose  from  a  briar  that  trailed  over  the 
bush,  and  asked  why  the  birds  bathed. 

"  I  do  not  know  why,"  said  the  Reed.  "  There  is 
no  why  at  all.  We  have  been  listening  to  the  Brook, 
me  and  my  family,  for  ever  so  many  thousands  of 


BROOK-FOLK.  95 

years,  and  though  the  Brook  has  been  talking  and 
singing  all  that  time,  I  never  heard  him  ask  why  about 
anything.  And  the  great  oak,  where  you  went  to 
sleep,  has  been  there,  goodness  me,  nobody  can  tell 
how  long,  and  every  one  of  his  leaves  (he  has  had 
millions  of  them)  have  all  been  talking,  but  not  one 
of  them  ever  asked  why ;  nor  does  the  sun,  nor  the 
stars  which  I  see  every  night  shining  in  the  clear 
water  down  there,  so  that  I  am  quite  sure  there  is  no 
why  at  all. 

"  But  the  birds  come  down  to  bathe  every  Mid- 
summer Day,  the  goldfinches,  and  the  sparrows,  and 
the  blackbirds,  and  the  thrushes,  and  the  swallows, 
and  the  wrens,  and  the  robins,  and  almost  every  one 
of  them,  except  two  or  three,  whose  great  grand- 
fathers got  into  disgrace  a  long  while  ago.  The 
rooks  do  not  come  because  they  are  thieves,  and 
steal  the  mussels,  nor  the  crows,  who  are  a  very 
bad  lot;  ^the  swan  does  not  come  either,  unless  the 
Brook  is  muddy  after  a  storm.  The  swan  is  so  tired 
of  seeing  himself  in  the  water  that  he  quite  hates  it, 
and  that  is  the  reason  he  holds  his  neck  so  high,  || 
that  he  may  not  see  more  of  himself  than  he  can 
help. 


96  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"  It  is  no  use  your  asking  the  Brook  why  they 
come,  because  even  if  he  ever  knew,  he  has  forgotten. 
For  the  Brook,  though  he  sparkles  so  bright  in  the 
sun,  and  is  so  clear  and  sweet,  and  looks  so  young, 
is  really  so  very,  very,  old  that  he  has  quite  lost 
his  memory,  and  cannot  remember  what  was  done 
yesterday.  He  did  not  even  know  which  way  the 
moorhen  went  just  now,  when  I  inquired,  having  a 
message  to  send  to  my  relations  by  the  osier-bed 
yonder. 

"But  I  have  heard  the  heron  say — he  is  talka- 
tive sometimes  at  night  when  you  are  asleep,  dear, 
he  was  down  here  this  morning  paddling  about — 
that  the  birds  in  the  beginning  learnt  to  sing  by 
listening  to  the  Brook,  and  perhaps  that  is  the  reason 
they  pay  him  such  deep  respect.  Besides,  everybody 
knows  that  according  to  an  ancient  prophecy  which 
was  delivered  by  the  Raven  before  he  left  this  country, 
if  only  the  birds  can  all  bathe  in  the  Brook  on  Mid- 
summer Day  and  hold  their  tongues,  and  not  abuse 
one  another  or  quarrel,  they  will  be  able  to  compose 
their  differences,  and  ever  afterwards  live  happily 
together. 

ft  Then   they  could    drive   away    the    hawk,    for 


BKOOK-FOLK.  97 

there  is  only  one  hawk  to  ten  thousand  finches,  and 
if  they  only  marched  shoulder  to  shoulder  all  to- 
gether they  could  kill  him  with  ease.  They  could 
smother  the  cat  even,  by  all  coming  down  at  once 
upon  her,  or  they  could  carry  up  a  stone  and  drop 
on  her  head;  and  as  for  the  crow,  that  old  coward, 
if  he  saw  them  coming  he  would  take  wing  at  once. 
But  as  they  cannot  agree,  the  hawk,  and  the  cat, 
and  the  crow  do  as  they  like.  For  the  chaffinches 
all  fight  one  another,  you  heard  them  challenging, 
and  saw  them  go  to  battle,  and  then  when  at  last 
they  leave  off  and  are  good  fellows  again,  they  all 
flock  together  and  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  goldfinches,  or  the  blackbirds.  It  is  true  the 
wood-pigeons,  and  the  rooks,  and  the  starlings,  and 
the  fieldfares  and  redwings  are  often  about  in  the 
same  field,  but  that  is  only  because  they  eat  the 
same  things;  if  a  hawk  comes  they  all  fly  away 
from  each  other,  and  do  not  unite  and  fight  him 
as  they  might  do. 

"But  if  once  they  could  come  down  to  the 
Brook  on  Midsummer  Day,  and  never  quarrel,  then, 
according  to  the  prophecy  I  told  you  of,  all  this 
diversity  would  cease,  and  they  would  be  able  to 


98  WOOD    MAGIC. 

do  just  as  they  pleased,  and  build  three  or  four  nests 
in  the  summer  instead  of  one,  and  drive  away  and 
kill  all  the  hawks,  and  crows,  and  cats.  They  tried 
to  do  it,  I  can't  tell  you  how  many  years,  but 
they  could  never  succeed,  for  there  was  always  a 
dispute  about  something,  so  at  last  they  gave  it  up, 
and  it  was  almost  forgotten  (for  they  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  no  use  to  try),  till  last  year, 
when  the  mole,  the  one  that  spoke  to  the  grass- 
hopper just  now,  reminded  them  of  it. 

"Now  the  reason  the  mole  reminded  them  of  it 
was  because  one  day  a  hawk  came  down  too  quick 
for  his  wife  (who  was  peeping  out  of  doors),  and 
snapped  her  up  in  a  minute,  so  he  bore  the  hawk  a 
grudge,  and  set  about  to  seek  for  vengeance.  And 
as  he  could  not  fly  or  get  at  the  hawk  he  thought 
he  would  manage  it  through  the  other  birds.  So 
one  morning  when  the  green  woodpecker  came  down 
to  pick  up  the  ants  with  his  tongue,  the  mole 
looked  out  and  promised  to  show  him  where  there 
was  a  capital  feast,  and  to  turn  up  the  ground  for 
him,  if  in  return  he  would  fly  all  round  the  forest 
and  the  fields,  and  cry  shame  on  the  birds  for  letting 
the  hawk  go  on  as  he  did  when  they  could  so 


BEOOK-FOLK.  99 

easily  prevent  it,  just  by  holding  their  tongues  one 
day. 

"This  the  woodpecker  promised  to  do,  and  after 
he  had  feasted  off  he  went,  and  having  tapped  on 
a  tree  to  call  attention,  he  began  to.  cry  shame  upon 
them,  and  having  a  very  loud  voice  he  soon  let  them 
know  his  mind.  At  which  the  birds  resolved  to  try 
again,  and,  do  you  know,  last  year  they  very  nearly 
succeeded.  For  it  rained  hard  all  Midsummer  Day, 
and  when  the  birds  came  down  to  the  Brook  they 
were  so  bedraggled,  and  benumbed,  and  cold,  and 
unhappy,  that  they  had  nothing  to  say  for  them- 
selves, but  splashed  about  in  silence,  and  everything 
would  have  happened  just  right  had  not  a  rook, 
chancing  to  pass  over,  accidentally  dropped  something 
he  was  carrying  in  his  bill,  which  fell  into  the  flags 
there. 

"  The  starling  forgot  himself,  and  remarked  he 
supposed  it  was  an  acorn;  when  the  wood-pigeon 
called  him  a  donkey,  as  the  acorns  were  not  yet  ripe, 
nor  large  enough  to  eat ;  and  the  usual  uproar  began 
again.  But  afterwards,  when  they  talked  it  over, 
they  said  to  each  other  that,  as  they  had  so  nearly 

done   it,   it  must  be   quite  possible,   and   next  year 
H  2 


100  WOOD    MAGIC. 

they  would  all  hold  their  tongues  as  tight  as  wax, 
though  the  sun  should  drop  out  of  the  sky.  Now 
the  Hawk,  of  course,  being  so  high  up,  circling  round, 
saw  and  heard  all  this,  and  he  was  very  much 
alarmed,  as  they  had  so  nearly  succeeded;  and  he 
greatly  feared  lest  next  year,  what  he  had  dreaded  so 
long  would  come  to  pass,  as  the  Raven  had  foretold. 
"  So  he  flew  down  and  took  counsel  of  his  ancient 
friend  the  Weasel.  What  they  said  I  cannot  tell 
you,  nor  has  it  been  found  out,  but  I  have  no  doubt 
they  made  up  something  wicked  between  them,  and 
it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  you  let  the  Weasel 
go,  for  the  Hawk,  sharp  as  he  is,  is  not  very  clever 
at  anything  new,  and  if  he  had  not  got  the  Weasel 
to  advise  him  I  suspect  he  would  not  be  much  after 
all.  We  shall  see  presently  what  they  have  con- 
trived— I  am  much  mistaken  if  they  have  not  put 
their  heads  together  for  something.  Do  you  keep 
quite  still,  Bevis  dear,  when  the  birds  come,  and 
take  care  and  not  frighten  them." 

"  I  will/*  said  Bevis ;    "  I  will  be  very  quiet." 
"  It  is  my  turn  to  tell    you  a  story  now,"   said 
a  green  flag  waving  to  and  fro  in  the  brook.     "  The 
Reed  has  been  talking  too  much." 


BROOK-POLK.  101 

"No,  it  is  my  turn/'  said  a  perch  from  the 
water  under  the  bank.  Bevis  leaned  over  a  little, 
and  could  see  the  bars  across  his  back  and  sides. 

"  Hold  your  tongue/'  replied  the  flag ;  "  you  ate 
the  roach  this  morning,  whose  silvery  scales  used  to 
flash  like  a  light  under  the  water." 

"I  will  nibble  you/'  said  the  perch,  very  angry. 
"  I  will  teach  you  to  tell  tales." 

"  I  will  ask  the  willow,  he  is  a  very  old  friend 
of  mine,  not  to  shake  any  more  insects  into  the 
brook  for  you  from  his  leaves,"  replied  the  flag. 

"  It  was  not  I  who  ate  the  roach,"  said  the  perch  ; 
"it  was  the  pike,  Bevis  dear." 

"Indeed  it  was  not,"  said  the  pike,  coming  for- 
ward a  little  from  under  some  floating  weeds,  where 
he  had  been  in  hiding,  so  that  Bevis  could  now  see 
his  long  body.  "  The  perch  says  things  that  are  not 
true." 

"  You  know  you  hate  me,"  said  the  perch ; 
"  because  your  great,  great  grandfather  swallowed 
mine  in  a  rage,  and  my  great,  great  grandfather's 
spines  stuck  in  your  great,  great  grandfather's  throat 
and  killed  him.  And  ever  since  then,  Bevis  dear, 
they  have  done  nothing  but  tell  tales  against  me.  I 


102  WOOD    MAGIC. 

did  not  touch  the  roach,  the  pike  wanted  him,  I  know, 
for  breakfast/' 

"  I  deny  it"  said  the  pike ;  "  but  if  it  was  not 
the  perch  it  was  the  Rat." 

" That's  false/'  said  the  Rat ;  "I  have  only  this 
minute  come  down  to  the  Brook.  If  it  was  not  the 
pike  nor  the  perch,  depend  upon  it  it  was  the 
heron." 

"  I  am  sure  it  was  not  the  heron,"  said  a  beau- 
tiful drake,  who  came  swimming  down  the  stream.  "  I 
was  here  as  early  as  any  one,  and  I  will  not  have  my 
acquaintance  the  heron  accused  in  his  absence.  I 
assure  you  it  was  not  the  heron." 

"  Well,  who  did  it  then  ?  "  said  Bevis. 

"The  fact  is,"  said  a  frog  on  the  verge  of  the 
stream,  "they  are  all  as  bad  as  one  another;  the 
perch  is  a  rogue  and  a  thief;  the  pike  is  a  monster 
of  iniquity;  the  heron  never  misses  a  chance  of 
gobbling  up  somebody ;  and  as  for  the  drake,  for  all 
his  glossy  neck  and  his  innocent  look,  he  is  as  ready 
to  pick  up  anything  as  the  rest." 

"  Quack,"  cried  the  drake  in  a  temper ;  "  Quack." 

"  Hush !  "  said  a  tench  from  the  bottom  of  a 
deep  hole  under  the  bank — he  was  always  a  peace- 


BROOK-FOLK.  103 

maker.  "  Hush !  do  stop  the  noise  you  are  making. 
If  you  would  only  lie  quiet  in  the  mud  like  me, 
how  pleasant  you  would  find  life." 

"  Bevis,"  began  the  Reed ;  "  Bevis  dear,  Ah,  ah  ! " 
His  voice  died  away,  for  as  the  sun  got  higher  the 
Wind  fell,  and  the  Reed  could  only  speak  while  the 
Wind  blew.  The  flag  laughed  as  the  Reed  was 
silenced. 

"  You  need  not  laugh,"  said  the  perch ;  "  you 
can  only  talk  while  the  water  waggles  you.  The 
horse  will  come  down  to  the  Brook  to-morrow,  and 
bite  off  your  long  green  tip,  and  then  you  will 
not  be  able  to  start  any  more  falsehoods  about 
me." 

"  The  birds  are  coming,"  said  the  frog.  "  I  should 
like  to  swim  across  to  the  other  side,  where  I  can 
see  better,  but  I  am  afraid  of  the  pike  and  the 
drake.  Bevis,  dear,  fling  that  piece  of  dead  stick  at 
them." 

Bevis  picked  up  the  dead  stick  and  flung  it  at 
the  drake,  who  hastened  off  down  the  stream  ;  the 
pike,  startled  at  the  splash,  darted  up  the  brook,  and 
the  frog  swam  over  in  a  minute.  Then  the  birds 
began  to  come  down  to  the  drinking- place,  where 


]  04  WOOD    MAGIC. 

the  shore  shelved  very  gently,  and  the  clear  shallow 
water  ran  over  the  sandy  bottom.  They  were  all  in 
their  very  best  and  brightest  feathers,  and  as  the 
sun  shone  on  them  and  they  splashed  the  water  and 
strutted  about,  Bevis  thought  he  had  never  seen 
anything  so  beautiful. 

They  did  not  all  bathe,  for  some  of  them  were 
specially  permitted  only  to  drink  instead,  but  they 
all  came,  and  all  in  their  newest  dresses.  So  bright 
was  the  goldfinch's  wing,  that  the  lark,  though  she 
did  not  dare  speak,  had  no  doubt  she  rouged.  The 
sparrow,  brushed  and  neat,  so  quiet  and  subdued  in 
his  brown  velvet,  looked  quite  aristocratic  among  so 
much  flaunting  colour.  As  for  the  blackbird,  he  had 
carefully  washed  himself  in  the  spring  before  he 
came  to  bathe  in  the  brook,  and  he  glanced  round 
with  a  bold  and  defiant  air,  as  much  as  to  say, 
"There  is  not  one  of  you  who  has  so  yellow  a  bill, 
and  so  beautiful  a  black  coat  as  I  have."  In  the 
bush  the  bullfinch,  who  did  not  much  care  to  mix 
with  the  crowd,  moved  restlessly  to  and  fro.  The 
robin  looked  all  the  time  at  Bevis,  so  anxious  was 
he  for  admiration.  The  wood-pigeon,  very  conse- 
quential, affected  not  to  see  the  dove,  whom  Bevis 


BROOK-FOLK.  105 

longed  to  stroke,  but  could  not,  as  he  had  promised 
the  Reed  to  keep  still. 

All  this  time  the  birds,  though  they  glanced  at 
one  another,  and  those  who  were  on  good  terms, 
like  the  chaffinch  and  the  greenfinch,  exchanged  a 
nod,  had  not  spoken  a  word,  and  the  Reed,  as  a 
puff  came,  whispered  to  Bevis  that  the  prophecy 
would  certainly  come  to  pass,  and  they  would  all  be 
as  happy  as  ever  they  could  be.  Why  ever  did 
they  not  make  haste  and  fly  away,  now  they  had 
all  bathed  or  sipped?  The  truth  was,  they  liked  to 
be  seen  in  their  best  feathers,  and  none  of  them 
could  make  up  their  minds  to  be  the  first  to  go 
home  ;  so  they  strutted  to  and  fro  in  the  sunshine. 
Bevis,  in  much  excitement,  could  hardly  refrain  from 
telling  them  to  go. 

He  looked  up  into  the  sky  and  there  was  the 
Hawk,  almost  up  among  the  white  clouds,  soaring 
round  and  round,  and  watching  all  that  was  proceed- 
ing. Almost  before  he  could  look  down  again  a 
shadow  went  by,  and  a  cuckoo  flew  along  very  low, 
just  over  the  drinking-place. 

"  Cuckoo  \"  he  cried,  "Cuckoo!  The  goldfinch 
has  the  prettiest  dress/'  and  off  he  went. 


106  WOOD     MAGIC. 

Now  the  Hawk  had  bribed  the  cuckoo,  who  was 
his  cousin,  to  do  this,  and  the  cuckoo  was  not  at  all 
unwilling,  for  he  had  an  interest  himself  in  keeping 
the  birds  divided,  so  he  said  that  although  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  go  on  his  summer  tour,  leaving 
his  children  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  wagtail,  he 
would  stop  a  day  or  two  longer,  to  manage  this 
little  business.  No  sooner  had  the  cuckoo  said  this, 
than  there  was  a  most  terrible  uproar,  and  all  the 
birds  cried  out  at  once.  The  blackbird  was  so  dis- 
gusted, that  he  flew  straight  off,  chattering  all  across 
the  field  and  up  the  hedge.  The  bullfinch  tossed  his 
Head,  and  asked  the  goldfinch  to  come  up  in  the 
bush  and  see  which  was  strongest.  The  greenfinch 
and  the  chaffinch  shrieked  with  derision;  the  wood- 
pigeon  turned  his  back,  and  said  "  Pooh  ! "  and  went 
off  with  a  clatter.  The  sparrow  flew  to  tell  his 
mates  on  the  house,  and  you  could  hear  the  chatter 
they  made  about  it,  right  down  at  the  Brook.  But 
the  wren  screamed  loudest  of  all,  and  said  that  the 
goldfinch  was  a  painted  impostor,  and  had  not  got 
half  so  much  gold  as  the  yellow-hammer.  So  they 
were  all  scattered  in  a  minute,  and  Bevis  stood  up. 

"  Ah  ! "    said  the    Reed,    "  I  am  very  sorry.     It 


BROOK-FOLK.  107 

was  the  Hawk's  doings,  I  am  sure,  and  he  was  put 
up  to  the  trick  by  the  Weasel,  and  now  the  birds 
will  never  agree,  for  every  year  they  will  •  remember 
this.  Is  it  not  a  pity  they  are  so  vain  ?  Bevis, 
dear,  you  are  going,  I  see.  Come  down  again,  dear, 
when  the  wind  blows  stronger,  and  I  will  tell  you 
another  story.  Ah !  ah  \"  he  sighed ;  and  was  silent 
as  the  puff  ceased. 

Bevis,  tired  of  sitting  so  long,  went  wandering 
up  the  Brook,  peeping  into  the  hollow  willow  trees, 
wishing  he  could  dive  like  the  rats,  and  singing  to 
the  Brook,  who  sang  to  him  again,  and  taught 
him  a  very  old  tune.  By-and-by  he  came  to  the 
hatch,  where  the  Brook  fell  over  with  a  splash,  and 
a  constant  bubbling,  and  churning,  and  gurgling.  A 
kingfisher,  who  had  been  perched  on  the  rail  of  the 
hatch,  flew  off  when  he  saw  Bevis,  whistling,  "  "Weep ! 
weep  ! " 

"  Why  do  you  say,  weep,  weep/'  said  Bevis  ;  "  Is 
it  because  the  birds  are  so  foolish  ? "  But  the  king- 
fisher did  not  stay  to  answer.  The  water  rushing 
over  the  hatch  made  so  pleasant  a  sound  that  Bevis, 
delighted  with  its  tinkling  music,  sat  down  to 
listen  and  to  watch  the  bubbles,  and  see  how  far  they 


108  WOOD     MAGIC. 

would  swim  before  they  burst.  Then  he  threw  little 
pieces  of  stick  on  the  smooth  surface  above  the  hatch 
to  see  them  come  floating  over  and  plunge  under 
the  bubbles,  and  presently  appear  again  by  the  foam 
on  the  other  side  among  the  willow  roots. 

Still  more  sweetly  sang  the  Brook,  so  that  even 
restless  Bevis  stayed  to  hearken,  though  he  could 
not  quite  make  out  what  he  was  saying.  A  moorhen 
stole  out  from  the  rushes  farther  up,  seeing  that 
Bevis  was  still  enchanted  with  the  singing,  and  be- 
gan to  feed  among  the  green  weeds  by  the  shore.  A 
water-rat  came  out  of  his  hole  and  fed  in  the  grass 
close  by.  A  blue  dragon-fly  settled  on  a  water- 
plantain.  Up  in  the  ash-tree  a  dove  perched  and 
looked  down  at  Bevis.  Only  the  gnats  were  busy  ; 
they  danced  and  danced  till  Bevis  thought  they 
must  be  dizzy,  just  over  the  water. 

"  Sing  slower,"  said  Bevis  presently,  "  I  want 
to  hear  what  you  are  saying."  So  the  Brook  sang 
slower,  but  then  it  was  too  low,  and  he  could  not 
catch  the  words.  Then  he  thought  he  should  like  to 
go  over  to  the  other  side,  and  see  what  there  was  up 
the  high  bank  among  the  brambles.  He  looked  at 
the  hatch,  and  saw  that  there  was  a  beam  across  the 


BROOK-FOLK.  109 

Brook,  brown  with  weeds,  which  the  water  only 
splashed  aginst  and  did  not  cover  deeply.  By  hold- 
ing tight  to  the  rail  and  putting  his  feet  on  the 
beam  he  thought  he  could  climb  over. 

He  went  down  nearer  and  took  hold  of  the  rail, 
and  was  just  going  to  put  his  foot  on  the  beam, 
when  the  Brook  stopped  singing,  and  said,  a  Bevis, 
dear,  do  not  do  that ;  it  is  very  deep  here,  and  the 
beam  is  very  slippery,  and  if  you  should  fall  I  would 
hold  you  up  as  long  as  I  could,  but  I  am  not  very 
strong,  and  should  you  come  to  harm  I  should  be 
very  unhappy.  Do  please  go  back  to  the  field,  and 
if  you  will  come  down  some  day  when  I  am  not  in 
such  a  hurry,  I  will  sing  to  you  very  slowly,  and  tell 
you  everything  I  know.  And  if  you  come  very 
gently,  and  on  tip-toe  you  will  see  the  kingfisher, 
or  perhaps  the  heron/'  Bevis,  when  he  heard  this, 
went  back,  and  followed  the  hedge  a  good  way,  not 
much  thinking  where  he  was  going,  but  strolling  along 
in  the  shadow,  and  humming  to  himself  the  tune  he 
had  learnt  from  the  brook.  By-and-by  he  spied  a  gap 
in  the  hedge  under  an  ash-tree,  so  he  went  through 
in  a  minute,  and  there  was  a  high  bank  with  trees 
like  a  copse,  and  bramble-bushes  and  ferns.  He 


110  WOOD    MAGIC. 

went  on  up  the  bank,  winding  in  and  out  the 
brambles,  and  at  last  it  was  so  steep  he  had  to  climb 
on  his  hands  and  knees,  and  suddenly  as  he  came 
round  a  bramble-bush  there  was  the  Longpond, 
such  a  great  piece  of  water,  all  gleaming  in  the 
sunshine  and  reaching  far  away  to  the  woods  and 
the  hills,  as  if  it  had  no  end. 

Bevis  clapped  his  hands  with  delight,  and  was 
just  going  to  stand  up,  when  something  caught  him 
by  the  ankles;  he  looked  round,  and  it  was  the 
Bailiff,  who  had  had  an  eye  on  him  all  the  time  from 
the  hayfield.  Bevis  kicked  and  struggled,  but  it 
was  no  use,  the  Bailiff  carried  him  home,  and  then 
went  back  with  a  bill-hook,  and  cutting  a  thorn  bush, 
stopped  up  the  gap  in  the  hedge. 


CHAPTER    V. 

KAPCHACK. 

"  Q, — q — q/'  Bevis  heard  a  starling  say  some  weeks 
afterwards  on  the  chimney-top  one  morning  when 
he  woke  up.  The  chimney  was  very  old  and  big, 
and  the  sound  came  down  it  to  his  room.  "  Q, — q—^ 
my  dear,  I  will  tell  you  a  secret" — he  was  talking 
to  his  lady-love. 

"  Phe-hu,"  she  said,  in  a  flutter.  Bevis  could  hear 
her  wings  go  plainly.  "Whatever  is  it?  Do  tell 
me." 

"Look  all  round  first,"  he  said,  "and  see  that 
no  one  is  about. " 

"No  one  is  near,  dear;  the  sparrows  are  out  in 
the  corn,  and  the  swallows  are  very  high  up;  the 
blackbird  is  busy  in  the  orchard,  and  the  robin  is 
down  at  the  red  currants ;  there's  no  one  near.  Is 
it  a  very  great  secret  ? " 

"It  is  a  very  great  secret  indeed,  and  you  must 
be  very  careful  not  to  whistle  it  out  by  accident; 


112  WOOD    MAGIC. 

now   if   I   tell  you   will   you   keep   your  beak  quite 
shut,  darling?" 

"  Quite." 

"  Then,  listen — Kapchack  is  in  love." 

"  Phe — hu — u  ;  who  is  it  ?  Is  he  going  to  be 
married?  How  old  is  she?  Who  told  you?  When 
did  you  hear  it?  Whatever  will  people  say?  Tell 
me  all  about  it,  dear!" 

"The  tomtit  told  me  just  now  in  the  fir-tree; 
the  woodpecker  told  him  on  his  promising  that  he 
would  not  tell  anybody  else." 

"  When  is  the  marriage  to  come  off,  dear  ?  "  she 
asked,  interrupting  him.  "  Kapchack — Phe — u  !  " 

Somebody  came  round  the  house,  and  away  they 
flew,  just  as  Bevis  was  going  to  ask  all  about  it. 
He  went  to  the  window  as  soon  as  he  was  dressed, 
and  as  he  opened  it  he  saw  a  fly  on  the  pane;  he 
thought  he  would  ask  the  fly,  but  instantly  the 
fly  began  to  fidget,  and  finding  that  the  top  of  the 
window  was  open  out  he  went,  buzzing  that  Kap- 
chack was  in  love.  At  breakfast  time  a  wasp  came 
in — for  the  fruit  was  beginning  to  ripen,  and  the 
wasps  to  get  busy — and  he  went  all  round  the  room 
saying  that  Kapchack  was  in  love,  but  he  would 


KAPCHACK.  113 

not  listen  to  anything  Bevis  asked,  he  was  so  full 
of  Kapchack.  When  Bevis  ran  out  of  doors  the 
robin  on  the  palings  immediately  said,  "  Kapchack 
is  in  love ;  do  you  know  Kapchack  is  in  love  ? " 
and  a  second  afterwards  the  wren  flew  up  to  the 
top  of  the  wood  pile  and  cried  out  just  the  same 
thing. 

Three  finches  passed  him  as  he  went  up  the  garden, 
telling  each  other  that  Kapchack  was  in  love.  The 
mare  in  the  meadow  whinnied  to  her  colt  that  Kap- 
chack was  in  love,  and  the  cows  went  "  boo  "  when 
they  heard  it,  and  "booed"  it  to  some  more  cows 
ever  so  far  away.  The  leaves  on  the  apple  tree 
whispered  it,  and  the  news  went  all  down  the  orchard 
in  a  moment;  and  everything  repeated  it.  Bevis 
got  into  his  swing,  and  as  he  swung  to  and  fro  he 
heard  it  all  round  him. 

A  humble-bee  went  along  the  grass  telling  all 
the  flowers  that  were  left,  and  then  up  into  the 
elm,  and  the  elm  told  the  ash,  and  the  ash  told  the 
oak,  and  the  oak  told  the  hawthorn,  and  it  ran 
along  the  hedge  till  it  reached  the  willow,  and  the 
willow  told  the  Brook,  and  the  Brook  told  the  reeds, 
and  the  reeds  told  the  kingfisher,  and  the  kingfisher 


114  WOOD    MAGIC. 

went  a  mile  down  the  stream  and  told  the  heron, 
and  the  heron  went  up  into  the  sky  and  called  it  out 
as  loud  as  he  could,  and  a  rabbit  heard  it  and  told 
another  rabbit,  and  he  ran  across  to  the  copse  and 
told  another,  and  he  told  a  mouse,  and  he  told  a 
butterfly,  and  the  butterfly  told  a  moth,  and  the 
moth  went  into  the  great  wood  and  told  another 
moth,  and  a  wood-pigeon  heard  it  and  told  more 
wood-pigeons,  and  so  everybody  said  "  Kapchack  is 
in  love ! " 

"  But  I  thought  it  was  a  great  secret,"  said  Bevis 
to  a  thrush,  "  and  that  nobody  knew  it,  except  the 
tomtit,  and  the  woodpecker,  and  the  starling;  and, 
besides,  who  is  Kapchack  ? "  The  thrush  was  in  the 
bushes  where  they  came  to  the  haha,  and  when  he 
heard  Bevis  ask  who  Kapchack  was,  he  laughed,  and 
said  he  should  tell  everybody  that  Bevis,  who  shot 
his  uncle  with  the  cannon-stick,  was  so  very,  very 
stupid  he  did  not  know  who  Kapchack  was.  Ha ! 
Ha !  Could  anybody  be  so  ignorant  ?  he  should 
not  have  believed  it  if  he  had  not  heard  it. 

Bevis,  in  a  rage  at  this,  jumped  out  of  the 
swing  and  threw  a  stone  at  the  thrush,  and  so  well 
did  he  fling  it  that  if  the  thrush  had  not  slipped 


KAPCHACK.  115 

under  a  briar  he  would  have  had  a  good  thump. 
Bevis  went  wandering  round  the  garden,  and  into  his 
summer-house,  when  he  heard  some  sparrows  in  the 
ivy  on  the  roof  all  chattering  about  Kapchack,  and 
out  he  ran  to  ask  them,  but  they  were  off  in  a 
second  to  go  and  tell  the  yellow-hammers.  Bevis 
stamped  his  foot,  he  was  so  cross  because  nobody 
would  tell  him  about  Kapchack,  and  he  could  not 
think  what  to  do,  till  as  he  was  looking  round  the 
garden  he  saw  the  rhubarb,  and  remembered  the  old 
Toad.  Very  likely  the  Toad  would  know;  he  was 
so  old,  and  knew  almost  everything.  Away  he  ran 
to  the  rhubarb  and  looked  under  the  piece  of  wood, 
and  there  was  the  Toad  asleep,  just  as  he  always 
was. 

He  was  so  firm  asleep,  he  did  not  know  what 
Bevis  said,  till  Bevis  got  a  twig  and  poked  him  a 
little.  Then  he  yawned  and  woke  up,  and  asked 
Bevis  what  time  it  was,  and  how  long  it  would  be 
before  the  moon  rose. 

"  I  want  to  know  who  Kapchack  is,  this  minute," 
said  Bevis,  "this  very  minute,  mind." 

"Well  I  never!"  said  the  Toad,  "well  I  never! 

Don't  you  know?" 
i  2 


116  ,      WOOD    MAGIC. 

"Tell  me  directly — this  very  minute — you  horrid 
old  Toad!" 

"  Don't  you  really  know  ? "  said  the  Toad. 

"  I'll  have  you  shovelled  up,  and  flung  over  to 
the  pigs,  if  you  don't  tell  me,"  said  Bevis.  "No, 
I'll  get  my  cannon-stick,  and  shoot  you !  No,  here's 
a  big  stone — I'll  smash  you  !  I  hate  you !  Who's 
Kapchack?" 

"Kapchack,"  said  the  Toad,  not  in  the  least 
frightened,  "  Kapchack  is  the  Magpie  ;  and  he  is 
king  over  everything  and  everybody — over  the  fly 
and  the  wasp,  and  the  finches,  and  the  heron,  and 
the  horse,  and  the  rabbit,  and  the  flowers,  and  the 
trees.  Kapchack,  the  great  and  mighty  Magpie,  is 
the  king,"  and  the  Toad  bumped  his  chin  on  the 
ground,  as  if  he  stood  before  the  throne,  so  humble 
was  he  at  the  very  name  of  Kapchack.  Then  he 
shut  one  eye  in  a  very  peculiar  manner,  and  put  out 
his  tongue. 

"  Why,  don't  you  like  Kapchack  ?  "  said  Bevis, 
who  understood  him  in  a  minute. 

"  Hush  ! "  said  the  Toad,  and  he  repeated  out 
loud,  "  Kapchack  is  the  great  and  noble  Magpie — 
Kapchack  is  the  king ! "  Then  he  whispered  to 


KAPCHACK.  117 

Bevis  to  sit  down  on  the  grass  very  near  him,  so 
that  he  might  speak  to  him  better,  and  not  much 
louder  than  a  whisper.  "When  Bevis  had  sat  down 
and  stooped  a  little,  the  Toad  came  close  to  the 
mouth  of  his  hole,  and  said  very  quietly,  "  Bevis, 
dear,  Kapchack  is  a  horrid  wretch  ! " 

"  Why/'  said  Bevis,  "  why  do  you  hate  him  ? 
and  where  does  he  live  ?  and  why  is  he  king  ?  I 
suppose  he  is  very  beautiful  ?  " 

"  Oh,  dear,  no  !  "  said  the  Toad,  hastily,  "  he  is 
the  ugliest  creature  that  ever  hopped.  The  feathers 
round  one  eye  have  all  come  out  and  left  a  bare 
place,  and  he  is  quite  blind  on  the  other.  Indeed 
his  left  eye  is  gone  altogether.  His  beak  is  chipped 
and  worn;  his  wings  are  so  beaten  and  decayed 
that  he  can  hardly  fly  \  and  there  are  several  feathers 
out  of  his  tail.  He  is  the  most  miserable  thing  you 
ever  saw." 

"  Then  why  is  he  king?"  said  Bevis. 

"  Because  he  is,"  said  the  Toad ;  "  and  as  he  is 
king,  nobody  else  can  be.  It  is  true  he  is  very 
wise — at  least  everybody  says  so — wiser  than  the 
crow  or  the  rook,  or  the  Weasel  (though  the 
Weasel  is  so  cunning).  And  besides,  he  is  so  old, 


118  WOOD    MAGIC. 

so  very  old,  nobody  knows  when  he  was  born,  and 
they  say  that  he  will  always  live,  and  never  die. 
Why,  he  put  my  grandfather  in  prison/' 

"In  prison ?"  said  Bevis.  tr Where  is  the 
prison?" 

"  In  the  elm  tree,  at  the  top  of  the  Home 
Field,"  said  the  Toad.  "  My  grandfather  has  been 
shut  up  there  in  a  little  dungeon  so  tight,  he  can- 
not turn  round,  or  sit,  or  stand,  or  lie  down,  for 
so  long  a  time  that,  really  Bevis,  dear,  I  cannot 
tell  you ;  but  it  was  before  you  were  born.  And 
all  that  time  he  has  had  nothing  to  eat  or  drink, 
and  he  has  never  seen  the  sun  or  felt  the  air, 
and  I  do  not  suppose  he  has.  ever  heard 
anything  unless  when  the  thunderbolt  fell  on 
the  oak,  close  by.  Perhaps  he  heard  the  thunder 
then." 

"Well,  then,  what  has  he  been  doing?"  asked 
Bevis,  "  and  why  doesn't  he  get  out  ?" 

"  He  cannot  get  out,  because  the  tree  has  grown 
all  round  him  quite  hard,  as  Kapchack  knew  it 
would  when  he  ordered  him  to  be  put  there  in 
the  hole.  He  has  not  been  doing  anything  but 
thinking." 


KAPCHACK.  119 

"I  should  get  tired  of  thinking  all  that  time/' 
said  Bevis;  "but  why  was  he  put  there?" 

"For  reasons  of  state/'  said  the  Toad.  "He 
knows  too  much.  Once  upon  a  time  he  saw  Kap- 
chack  do  something,  I  do  not  know  what  it  was, 
and  Kapchack  was  very  angry,  and  had  him  put  in 
there  in  case  he  should  tell  other  people.  I  went 
and  asked  him  what  it  was  before  the  tree  quite 
shut  him  in,  while  there  was  just  a  little  chink 
you  could  talk  through ;  but  he  always  told  me  to 
stop  in  my  hole  and  mind  my  own  business,  else 
perhaps  I  should  get  punished,  as  he  had  been.  But 
he  did  tell  me  that  he  could  not  help  it,  that  he  did 
not  mean  to  see  it,  only  just  at  the  moment  it 
happened  he  turned  round  in  his  bed,  and  he  opened 
his  eyes  for  a  second,  and  you  know  the  conse- 
quences, Bevis,  dear.  So  I  advise  you  always  to 
look  the  other  way,  unless  you're  wanted." 

"It  was  very  cruel  of  Kapchack,"  said  Bevis. 

"Kapchack  is  very  cruel,"  said  the  Toad,  "and 
very  greedy,  more  greedy  even  than  the  ants;  and 
he  has  such  a  treasure  in  his  palace  as  never  was 
heard  of.  No  one  can  tell  how  rich  he  is.  And  as 
for  cruelty,  why  he  killed  his  uncle  only  a  week 


120  WOOD    MAGIC. 

since,  just  for  not  answering  him  the  very  instant 
he  spoke ;  he  pecked  him  in  the  forehead  and  killed 
him.  Then  he  killed  the  poor  little  wren,  whom  he 
chanced  to  hear  say  that  the  king  was  not  so  beau- 
tiful as  her  husband.  Next  he  pecked  a  thrush  to 
death,  because  the  thrush  dared  to  come  into  his 
orchard  without  special  permission. 

"  But  it  is  no  use  my  trying  to  tell  you  all  the 
shameful  things  he  has  done  in  all  these  years. 
There  is  never  a  year  goes  by  without  his  doing 
something  dreadful;  and  he  has  made  everybody 
miserable  at  one  time  or  other  by  killing  their 
friends  or  relations,  from  the  snail  to  the  partridge. 
He  is  quite  merciless,  and  spares  no  one ;  why,  his 
own  children  are  afraid  of  him,  and  it  is  believed 
that  he  has  pecked  several  of  them  to  death,  though 
it  is  hushed  up;  but  people  talk  about  it  all  the 
same,  sometimes.  As  for  the  way  he  has  behaved 
to  the  ladies,  if  I  were  to  tell  you  you  would  never 
believe  it." 

"I  hate  him,"  said  Bevis.  "Why  ever  do  they 
let  him  be  king?  How  they  must  hate  him." 

"  Oh,  no  they  don't,  dear,"  said  the  Toad.  "  If 
you  were  to  hear  how  they  go  on,  you  would  think 


KAPCHACK.  121 

he  was  the  nicest  and  kindest  person  that  ever  existed. 
They  sing  his  praises  all  day  long;  that  is,  in  the 
spring  and  summer,  while  the  birds  have  their 
voices.  You  must  have  heard  them,  only  you  did 
not  understand  them.  The  finches  and  the  thrushes, 
and  the  yellow-hammers  and  the  wrens,  and  all  the 
birds,  every  one  of  them,  except  Choo  Hoo,  the  great 
rebel,  sing  Kapchack's  praises  all  day  long,  and  tell  him 
that  they  love  him  more  than  they  love  their  eggs 
or  their  wives,  or  their  nests,  and  that  he  is  the 
very  best  and  nicest  of  all,  and  that  he  never  did 
anything  wrong,  but  is  always  right  and  always 
just. 

"  And  they  say  his  eye  is  brighter  than  the  sun, 
and  that  he  can  see  more  with  his  one  eye  than  all 
the  other  birds  put  together;  and  that  his  feathers 
are  blacker  and  whiter  and  more  beautiful  than  any- 
thing else  in  the  world,  and  his  voice  sweeter  than 
the  nightingale's.  Now,  if  you  will  stoop  a  little 
lower  I  will  whisper  to  you  the  reason  they  do  this 
(Bevis  stooped  down  close)  ;  the  truth  is  they  are 
afraid  lest  he  should  come  himself  and  peck  their 
eggs,  or  their  children,  or  their  wives,  or  if  not 
himself  that  he  should  send  the  Hawk,  or  the  Weasel, 


122  WOOD    MAGIC. 

or  the  Stoat,  or  the  Rat,  or  the  Crow.  Don't  you 
ever  listen  to  the  Crow,  Bevis ;  he  is  a  black 
scoundrel. 

"For  Kapchack  has  got  all  the  crows,  and  hawks, 
and  weasels  (especially  that  very  cunning  one,  that 
old  wretch  that  cheated  you),  and  rats,  to  do  just  as 
he  tells  them.  They  are  his  soldiers,  and  they  carry 
out  his  bidding  quicker  than  you  can  wink  your 
eye,  or  than  I  can  shoot  out  my  tongue,  which  I 
can  do  so  quickly  that  you  cannot  see  it.  When 
the  spring  is  over  and  the  birds  lose  their  voices 
(many  of  them  have  already),  they  each  send  one  or 
two  of  their  number  every  day  to  visit  the  orchard 
where  Kapchack  lives,  and  to  say  (as  they  can  no 
longer  sing)  that  they  still  think  just  the  same,  and 
they  are  all  his  very  humble  servants.  Kapchack 
takes  no  notice  of  them  whatever  unless  they  happen 
to  do  what  he  does  not  like,  and  then  they  find 
out  very  soon  that  he  has  got  plenty  of  spies 
about. 

"My  opinion  is  that  the  snail  is  no  better  than 
a  spy  and  a  common  informer.  Do  you  just  look 
round  and  turn  over  any  leaves  that  are  near,  lest 
any  should  be  here,  and  tell  tales  about  me.  I  can 


KAPCHACK.  123 

tell  you,  it  is  a  very  dangerous  thing  to  talk  about 
Kapchack,  somebody  or  other  is  sure  to  hear,  and 
to  go  and  tell  him,  so  as  to  get  into  favour.  Now, 
that  is  what  I  hate.  All  the  rabbits  and  hares  (and 
your  friend  the  Hare  that  lives  at  the  top  of  the 
Home  Field),  and  the  Squirrel  and  the  Mouse,  all 
of  them  have  to  do  just  the  same  as  the  birds,  and 
send  messages  to  Kapchack,  praising  him  and  pro- 
mising to  do  exactly  as  he  tells  them,  all  except 
Choo  Hoo." 

"Who  is   Choo  Hoo?"   said   Bevis. 

"  Choo  Hoo  is  the  great  wood-pigeon,"  said  the 
Toad.  "  He  is  a  rebel ;  but  I  cannot  tell  you  much 
about  him,  for  it  is  only  of  late  years  that  we 
have  heard  anything  of  him,  and  I  do  not  know 
much  about  the  present  state  of  things.  Most  of 
the  things  I  can  tell  you  happened,  or  begun,  a 
long  time  ago.  If  you  want  to  know  what  is  going 
on  now,  the  best  person  you  can  go  to  is  the 
Squirrel.  He  is  a  very  good  fellow ;  he  can  tell 
you.  I  will  give  you  a  recommendation  to  him, 
or  perhaps  he  will  be  afraid  to  open  his  mouth  too 
freely  ;  for,  as  I  said  before,  it  is  a  very  dan- 
gerous thing  to  talk  about  Kapchack,  and  every- 


124  WOOD    MAGIC. 

body  is  most  terribly  afraid  of  him — he  is  so  full 
of  malice." 

"  Why  ever  do  they  let  him  be  king  ? "  said 
Bevis;  "I  would  not,  if  I  were  them.  Why  ever 
do  they  put  up  with  him,  and  his  cruelty  and 
greediness?  I  will  tell  the  thrush  and  the  starling 
not  to  endure  him  any  longer." 

"  Pooh  !  pooh  !  "  said  the  Toad.  "  It  is  all  very 
well  for  you  to  say  so,  but  you  must  excuse  me 
for  saying,  my  dear  Sir  Bevis,  that  you  really 
know  very  little  about  it.  The  thrush  and  the 
starling  would  not  understand  what  you  meant. 
The  thrush's  father  always  did  as  Kapchack  told 
him,  and  sang  his  praises,  as  I  told  you,  and  so 
did  his  grandfather,  and  his  great  grandfather,  and 
all  his  friends  and  relations,  these  years  and  years 
past.  So  that  now  the  thrushes  have  no  idea  of 
there  being  no  Kapchack.  They  could  not  under- 
stand you,  if  you  tried  to  explain  to  them  how  nice 
it  would  be  without  him.  If  you  sat  in  your 
swing  and  talked  to  them  all  day  long,  for  all 
the  summer  through,  they  would  only  think  you 
very  stupid  even  to  suppose  such  a  state  of  things 
as  no  Kapchack.  Quite  impossible,  Bevis,  dear ! — 


KAPCHACK.  125 

excuse  me  correcting  you.  Why,  instead  of  liking 
it,  they  would  say  it  would  be  very  dreadful  to 
have  no  Kapchack." 

"Well,  they  are  silly!"  said  Bevis.  "  But  you 
do  not  like  Kapchack !  " 

"  No,  I  do  not,"  said  the  Toad  ;  "  and  if  you 

will  stoop  down  again (Bevis  stooped  still 

nearer.)  No ;  perhaps  you  had  better  lie  down  on 
the  grass  !  There — now  I  can  talk  to  you  quite 
freely.  The  fact  is,  do  you  know,  there  are  other 
people  besides  me  who  do  not  like  Kapchack.  The 
Crow — I  can't  have  anything  to  do  with  such  an 
old  rogue !  —  the  Crow,  I  am  certain,  hates 
Kapchack,  but  he  dares  not  say  so.  Now  I  am 
so  old,  and  they  think  me  so  stupid  and  deaf  that 
people  say  a  good  deal  before  me,  never  imagining 
that  I  take  any  notice.  And  when  I  have  been 
out  of  a  dewy  evening,  I  have  distinctly  heard 
the  Crow  grumbling  about  Kapchack.  The  Crow 
thinks  he  is  quite  as  clever  as  Kapchack,  and  would 
make  quite  as  good  a  king. 

"Nor  is  the  Rat  satisfied,  nor  the  Weasel,  nor 
the  Hawk.  I  am  sure  they  are  not,  but  they  can- 
not do  anything  alone,  and  they  are  so  suspicious 


126  -WOOD    MAGIC. 

of  each  other  they  cannot  agree.  So  that  though 
they  are  dissatisfied,  they  can  do  nothing.  I  dare 
say  Kapchack  knows  it  very  well  indeed.  He  is 
so  wise — so  very,  very  wise — that  he  can  see  right 
into  what  they  think,  and  he  knows  that  they  hate 
him,  and  he  laughs  in  his  sleeve.  I  will  tell  you 
what  he  does.  He  sets  the  Hawk  on  against  the 
Rat,  and  the  Rat  on  against  the  Crow,  and  the 
Crow  against  the  Weasel.  He  tells  them  all  sorts 
of  things;  so  that  the  Weasel  thinks  the  Crow 
tells  tales  about  him,  and  the  Hawk  thinks  the 
Rat  has  turned  tail  and  betrayed  his  confidence. 
The  result  is,  they  hate  one  another  as  much  as 
they  hate  him. 

"And  he  told  the  Rat — it  was  very  clever  of 
him  to  do  so,  yes,  it  was  very  clever  of  him,  I 
must  admit  that  Kapchack  is  extremely  clever — 
that  if  he  was  not  king  somebody  else  would  be, 
perhaps  the  Hawk,  or  the  Rat.  Now  the  Rook 
told  his  friends  at  the  rookery,  and  they  told 
everybody  else,  and  when  people  came  to  talk  about 
it,  they  said  it  was  very  true.  If  Kapchack  was 
not  king,  perhaps  the  Hawk  would  be,  and  he 
would  be  as  bad,  or  worse;  or  the  Rat,  and  lie 


KAPCHACK.  127 

would  be  very  much  worse ;    or  perhaps  the  Weasel, 
the  very  worst  of  all. 

"So  they  agreed  that,  rather  than  have  these, 
they  would  have  Kapchack  as  the  least  evil.  When 
the  Hawk  and  the  Rat  heard  what  the  king  had 
said,  they  hated  each  other  ten  times  more  than 
before,  lest  Kapchack — if  ever  he  should  give  up 
the  crown — should  choose  one  or  other  of  them  as  his 
successor,  for  that  was  how  they  understood  the  hint. 
Not  that  there  is  the  least  chance  of  his  giving  up 
the  crown ;  not  he,  my  dear,  and  he  will  never  die, 
as  everybody  knows  (here  the  Toad  winked  slightly) , 
and  he  will  never  grow  any  older,  all  he  does  is  to 
grow  wiser,  and  wiser,  and  wiser,  and  wiser.  All  the 
other  birds  die,  but  Kapchack  lives  for  ever.  Long 
live  the  mighty  Kapchack ! "  said  the  Toad  very 
loud,  that  all  might  hear  how  loyal  he  was,  and 
then  went  on  speaking  lower.  "  Yet  the  Hawk,  and 
the  Crow,  and  the  Eook,  and  the  Jay,  and  all  of  them, 
though  they  hate  Kapchack  in  their  hearts,  all 
come  round  him  bowing  down,  and  they  peck  the 
ground  where  he  has  just  walked,  and  kiss  the  earth 
he  has  stood  on,  in  token  of  their  humility  and 
obedience  to  him.  Each  tries  to  outdo  the  rest  in 


128  WOOD   MAGIC. 

servility.  They  bring  all  the  news  to  the  palace, 
and  if  they  find  anything  very  nice  in  the  fields, 
they  send  a  message  to  say  where  it  is,  and  leave  it 
for  him,  so  that  he  eats  the  very  fat  of  the  land." 

"And  where  is  his  palace ?"  asked  Bevis.  "I 
should  like  to  go  and  see  him." 

"His  palace  is  up  in  an  immense  old  apple-tree, 
dear.  It  is  a  long  way  from  here,  and  it  is  in  an 
orchard,  where  nobody  is  allowed  to  go.  And  this 
is  the  strangest  part  of  it  all,  and  I  have  often 
wondered  and  thought  about  it  months  together, 
once  I  thought  about  it  for  a  whole  year,  but  I 
cannot  make  out  why  it  is  that  the  owner  of  the 
orchard,  who  lives  in  the  house  close  by  it,  is  so 
fond  of  Kapchack.  He  will  not  let  anybody  go 
into  the  orchard  unless  with  him.  He  keeps  it 
locked  (there  is  a  high  wall  around),  and  carries  the 
key  in  his  pocket. 

"As  the  orchard  is  very  big,  and  Kapchack's 
nest  is  in  the  middle,  no  one  can  even  see  it  from 
the  outside,  nor  can  any  boys  fling  a  stone  and  hit 
it;  nor,  indeed,  could  any  one  shoot  at  it,  because 
the  boughs  are  all  round  it.  Thus  Kapchack's  palace 
is  protected  with  a  high  wall,  by  the  boughs,  by 


KAPCHACK.  129 

its  distance  from  the  outside,  by  lock  and  key,  and  by 
the  owner  of  the  orchard,  who  thinks  more  of  him 
than  of  all  the  world  besides.  He  will  not  let  any 
other  big  birds  go  into  the  orchard  at  all,  unless 
Kapchack  seems  to  like  it;  he  will  bring  out  his 
gun  and  shoot  them.  He  watches  over  Kapchack  as 
carefully  as  if  Kapchack  was  his  son.  As  for  the 
cats  he  has  shot  for  getting  into  the  orchard,  there 
must  have  been  a  hundred  of  them. 

"So  that  Kapchack  every  year  puts  a  few  more 
sticks  on  his  nest,  and  brings  up  his  family  in  per- 
fect safety,  which  is  what  no  other  bird  can  do, 
neither  the  rook,  nor  the  hawk,  nor  the  crow,  nor 
could  even  the  raven,  when  he  lived  in  this  country. 
This  is  a  very  great  advantage  to  Kapchack,  for  he 
has  thus  a  fortress  to  retreat  to,  into  which  no  one 
can  enter,  and  he  can  defy  everybody;  and  this  is  a 
great  help  to  him  as  king.  It  is  also  one  reason 
why  he  lives  so  long,  though  perhaps  there  is 
another  reason,  which  I  cannot,  really  I  dare  not, 
even  hint  at;  it  is  such  a  dreadful  secret,  I  should 
have  my  head  split  open  with  a  peck  if  I  even  so 
much  as  dared  to  think  it.  Besides  which,  perhaps 

it  is  not  true, 
j 


130  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"If  it  were  not  so  far,  and  if  there  was  not  a 
wall  round  the  orchard,  I  would  tell  you  which  way 
to  go  to  find  the  place.  His  palace  is  now  so  big 
he  can  hardly  make  it  any  bigger  lest  it  should  fall ; 
yet  it  is  so  full  of  treasures  that  it  can  barely  hold 
them  all.  There  are  many  who  would  like  to  rob 
him,  I  know.  The  Crow  is  one;  but  they  dare  not 
attempt  it,  not  only  for  fear  of  Kapchack,  but 
because  they  would  certainly  be  shot. 

"Everybody  talks  about  the  enormous  treasure  he 
has  up  there,  and  everybody  envies  him.  But  there 
are  very  dark  corners  in  his  palace,  dark  and  blood- 
stained, for,  as  I  told  you,  his  family  history  is 
full  of  direful  deeds.  Besides  killing  his  uncle,  and, 
as  is  whispered,  several  of  his  children,  because  he 
suspected  them  of  designs  upon  his  throne,  he  has 
made  away  with  a  great  many  of  his  wives,  I  should 
think  at  least  twenty.  So  soon  as  they  begin  to 
get  old  and  ugly  they  die — people  pretend  the  palace 
is  not  healthy  to  live  in,  being  so  ancient,  and  that 
that  is  the  reason.  Though  doubtless  they  are  very 
aggravating,  and  very  jealous.  Did  you  hear  who 
it  was  Kapchack  was  in  love  with  ?  " 

"No,"   said   Bevis.       "The    starling    flew   away 


KAPCHACK.  131 

before  I  could  ask  him,  and  as  for  the  rest  they  are 
so  busy  telling  one  another  they  will  not  answer 
me." 

"  One  thing  is  very  certain/'  said  the  Toad,  "  if 
Kapchack  is  in  love  you  may  be  sure  there  will  be 
some  terrible  tragedy  in  the  palace,  for  his  wife  will 
be  jealous,  and  besides  that  his  eldest  son  and  heir 
will  not  like  it.  Prince  Tchack-tchack  is  not  a  very 
good  temper — Tchack-tchack  is  his  son,  I  should  tell 
you — and  he  is  already  very  tired  of  waiting  for  the 
throne.  But  it  is  no  use  his  being  tired,  for  Kap- 
chack does  not  mean  to  die.  Now  Bevis,  dear,  I 
have  told  you  everything  I  can  think  of,  and  I  am 
tired  of  sitting  at  the  mouth  of  this  hole,  where  the 
sunshine  comes,  and  must  go  back  to  sleep. 

"  But  if  you  want  to  know  anything  about  the 
present  state  of  things  (as  I  can  only  tell  you  what 
happened  a  long  time  since)  you  had  better  go  and 
call  on  the  Squirrel,  and  say  I  sent  you,  and  he  will 
inform  you.  He  is  about  the  best  fellow  I  know; 
it  is  true  he  will  sometimes  bite  when  he  is  very 
frisky,  it  is  only  his  play,  but  you  can  look  sharp 
and  put  your  hands  in  your  pockets.  He  is  the  best 
of  them  all,  dear;  better  than  the  Fox,  or  the  Weasel, 


132  WOOD    MAGIC. 

or  the  Rat,  or  the  Stoat,  or  the  Mouse,  or  any  of 
them.  He  knows  all  that  is  going  on,  because  the 
starlings,  who  are  extremely  talkative,  come  every 
night  to  sleep  in  the  copse  where  he  lives,  and  have 
a  long  gossip  before  they  go  to  sleep;  indeed,  all 
the  birds  go  to  the  copse  to  chat,  the  rooks,  the 
wood-pigeons,  the  pheasant,  and  the  thrush,  besides 
the  rabbits  and  the  hares,  so  that  the  Squirrel,  to 
whom  the  copse  belongs,  hears  everything." 

"But  I  do  not  know  my  way  to  the  copse,"  said 
Bevis,  "please  tell  me  the  way." 

"  You  must  go  up  to  the  great  oak-tree,  dear," 
said  the  Toad,  "where  you  once  went  to  sleep,  and 
then  go  across  to  the  wheat-field,  and  a  little  farther 
you  will  see  a  footpath,  which  will  take  you  to 
another  field,  and  you  will  see  the  copse  on  your 
right.  Now  the  way  into  the  copse  is  over  a  narrow 
bridge,  it  is  only  a  tree  put  across  the  ditch,  and  you 
must  be  careful  how  you  cross  it,  and  hold  tight  to 
the  handrail,  and  look  where  you  put  your  feet.  It 
is  apt  to  be  slippery,  and  the  ditch  beneath  is  very 
deep ;  there  is  not  much  water,  but  a  great  deal  of 
mud.  I  recollect  it  very  well,  though  I  have  not 
been  there  for  some  time  :  I  slipped  off  the  bridge 


KAPCHACK.  133 

one  rainy  night  in  the  dark,  and  had  rather  a  heavy 
fall.  The  bridge  is  now  dry,  and  therefore  you  can 
pass  it  easily  if  you  do  not  leave-go  of  the  handrail. 
Good  morning,  dear,  I  feel  so  sleepy — come  and  tell 
me  with  whom  Kapchack  has  fallen  in  love;  and 
remember  me  to  the  Squirrel."  So  saying  the  Toad 
went  back  into  his  hole  and  went  to  sleep. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   SQUIRREL. 

ALL  this  talking  had  passed  away  the  morning,  but 
in  the  afternoon,  when  the  sun  got  a  little  lower,  and 
the  heat  was  not  quite  so  great,  Bevis,  who  had  not 
been  allowed  to  go  out  at  noon,  came  forth  again, 
and  at  once  started  up  the  Home  Field.  He  easily 
reached  the  great  oak-tree,  and  from  there  he  knew 
his  way  to  the  corner  of  the  wheat-field,  where  he 
stopped  and  looked  for  the  Hare,  but  she  was  not 
there,  nor  did  she  answer  when  he  called  to  her. 
At  the  sound  of  his  voice  a  number  of  sparrows 
rose  from  the  wheat,  which  was  now  ripening,  and 
flew  up  to  the  hedge,  where  they  began  to  chatter 
about  Kapchack's  love  affair. 

Bevis  walked  on  across  the  field,  and  presently 
found  a  footpath;  he  followed  this,  as  the  Toad  had 
instructed  him,  and  after  getting  over  two  stiles  there 
was  the  copse  on  the  right,  though  he  had  to  climb 
over  a  high  gate  to  get  into  the  meadow  next  to  it. 


THE    SQUIRREL.  135 

There  was  nothing  in  the  meadow  except  a  rabbit, 
who  turned  up  his  white  tail  and  went  into  his  hole, 
for  having  seen  Bevis  with  the  Hare,  whom  he  did 
not  like,  the  rabbit  did  not  care  to  speak  to  Bevis. 
When  Bevis  had  crossed  the  meadow  he  found,  just 
as  the  Toad  had  said,  that  there  was  a  very  deep 
ditch  round  the  copse,  but  scarcely  any  water  in  it, 
and  that  was  almost  hidden  with  weeds. 

After  walking  a  little  way  along  the  ditch  he 
saw  the  tree  which  had  been  cut  down  and  thrown 
across  for  a  bridge.  It  was  covered  with  moss,  and 
in  the  shadow  underneath  it  the  hart's-tongue  fern 
was  growing.  Remembering  what  the  Toad  had  told 
him,  Bevis  put  his  hand  on  the  rail — it  was  a  willow 
pole — but  found  that  it  was  not  very  safe,  for  at  the 
end  the  wasps  (a  long  time  ago)  had  eaten  it  hollow, 
carrying  away  the  wood  for  their  nests,  and  what 
they  had  left  had  become  rotten.  Still  it  was  enough 
to  steady  his  footsteps,  and  taking  care  that  he  did 
not  put  his  foot  on  a  knot,  Bevis  got  across  safely. 
There  was  a  rail  to  climb  over  on  the  other  side,  and 
then  he  was  in  the  copse,  and  began  to  walk  down 
a  broad  green  path,  a  road  which  wound  in  among 
the  ash-wood. 


136  WOOD     MAGIC. 

Nobody  said  anything  to  him,  it  was  quite  silent, 
so  silent,  that  he  could  hear  the  snap  of  the  dragon- 
fly's wing  as  he  stopped  in  his  swift  flight  and  re- 
turned again.  Bevis  pulled  a  handful  of  long  green 
rushes,  and  then  he  picked  some  of  the  burrs  from 
the  tall  burdocks ;  they  stuck  to  his  fingers  when 
he  tried  to  fling  them  away,  and  would  not  go.  The 
great  thistles  were  ever  so  far  above  his  head,  and  the 
humble-bees  on  them  glanced  down  at  him  as  he 
passed.  Bevis  very  carefully  looked  at  the  bramble- 
bushes  to  see  how  the  black-berries  were  coming  on  ; 
but  the  berries  were  red  and  green,  and  the  flowers 
had  not  yet  all  gone.  There  was  such  a  beautiful 
piece  of  woodbine  hanging  from  one  of  the  ash-poles 
that  he  was  not  satisfied  till  he  had  gathered  some 
of  it;  the  long  brome-grass  tickled  his  face  while 
he  was  pulling  at  the  honey-suckle. 

He  clapped  his  hands  when  he  found  some  young 
nuts ;  he  knew  they  were  not  ripe,  but  he  picked 
one  and  bit  it  with  his  teeth,  just  to  feel  how  soft  it 
was.  There  were  several  very  nice  sticks,  some  of 
which  he  had  half  a  mind  to  stay  and  cut,  and  put 
his  hand  in  his  pocket  for  his  knife,  but  there  were 
so  many  things  to  look  at,  he  thought  he  would  go 


THE    SQUIRREL.  137 

on  a  little  farther,  and  come  back  and  cut  them 
presently.  The  ferns  were  so  tall  and  thick  in  many 
places  that  he  could  not  see  in  among  the  trees. 
When  he  looked  back  he  had  left  the  place,  where 
he  came  in,  so  far  behind,  that  he  could  not  see  it, 
nor  when  he  looked  round  could  he  see  any  daylight 
through  the  wood ;  there  was  only  the  sky  overhead 
and  the  trees  and  ash-stoles,  and  bushes,  and  thistles, 
and  long  grass,  and  fern  all  about  him. 

Bevis  liked  it  very  much,  and  he  ran  on  and 
kicked  over  a  bunch  of  tawny  fungus  as  he  went,  till 
by-and-by  he  came  to  a  piece  of  timber  lying  on  the 
ground,  and  sat  down  upon  it.  Some  finches  went 
over  just  then,  they  were  talking  about  Kapchack 
as  they  flew,  they  went  so  fast  he  could  not  hear  much. 
But  the  Squirrel  was  nowhere  about;  he  called  to 
him,  but  no  one  answered,  and  he  began  to  think  he 
should  never  find  him,  when  presently,  while  he  sat 
on  the  timber  whistling  very  happily,  something  came 
round  the  corner,  and  Bevis  saw  it  was  the  Hare. 

She  ran  up  to  him  quickly,  and  sat  down  at  his 
feet,  and  he  stroked  her  very  softly.  "  I  called  for 
you  at  the  wheat-field,"  he  said,  "but  you  were 
not  there." 


138  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"No  dear/'  said  the  Hare,  "the  truth  is,  I  have 
been  waiting  for  ever  so  long  to  come  into  the  copse 
on  a  visit  to  an  old  friend,  but  you  must  know  that 
the  Weasel  lives  here" 

"  Does  the  Weasel  live  here  ?  "  said  Bevis,  start- 
ing up.  "  Tell  me  where,  and  I  will  kill  him  ;  I  will 
cut  off  his  head  with  my  knife." 

"I  cannot  tell  you  exactly,  where  he  lives/' 
said  the  Hare ;  "  but  it  is  somewhere  in  the  copse. 
It  is  of  no  use  your  looking  about ;  it  is  in  some 
hole  or  other,  quite  hidden,  and  you  would  never 
find  it.  I  am  afraid  to  come  into  the  copse  while 
he  is  here  ;  but  this  afternoon  the  dragon-fly  brought 
me  word  that  the  Weasel  had  gone  out.  So  I 
made  haste  to  come  while  he  was  away,  as  I  had 
not  seen  my  old  friend,  the  Squirrel,  for  ever  so 
long,  and  I  wanted  to  know  if  the  news  was 
true." 

"Do  you  mean  about  Kapchack?"  said  Bevis. 
"  I  came  to  see  the  Squirrel,  too,  but  I  cannot 
find  him." 

"Yes,  I  mean  about  Kapchack,"  said  the  Hare. 
"  Is  it  not  silly  of  him  to  fall  in  love  at  his  age  ? 
Why,  he  must  be  ten  times  as  old  as  me!  Really, 


THE     SQUIREEL.  139 

I  sometimes  think  that  the  older  people  get  the 
sillier  they  are.  But  it  is  not  much  use  your 
looking  for  the  Squirrel,  dear.  He  may  be  up  in 
the  fir  tree,  or  he  may  be  in  the  beech,  or  he 
may  have  gone  along  the  hedge.  If  you  were  by 
yourself,  the  best  thing  you  could  do  would  be  to 
sit  still  where  you  are,  and  he  would  be  nearly 
sure  to  come  by,  sooner  or  later.  He  is  so  rest- 
less, he  goes  all  over  the  copse,  and  is  never  very 
long  in  one  place.  Since,  however,  you  and  I  have 
met,  I  will  find  him  for  you,  and  send  him  to 
you." 

"How  long  shall  you  be?"  said  Bevis.  "I  am 
tired  of  sitting  here  now,  and  I  shall  go  on  along 
the  path." 

"  Oh,  then,"  said  the  Hare,  "  I  shall  not  know 
where  to  find  you,  and  that  will  not  do.  Now, 
I  know  what  I  will  do.  I  will  take  you  to  the 
raspberries,  and  there  you  can  eat  the  fruit  till  I 
send  the  Squirrel." 

The  Hare  leapt  into  the  fern,  and  Bevis  went 
after  her.  She  led  him  in  and  out,  and  round  the 
ash-stoles  and  bushes,  till  he  had  not  the  least  idea 
which  way  he  was  going.  After  a  time,  they  came 


140  WOOD    MAGIC. 

to  an  immense  thicket  of  bramble  and  thorn,  and 
fern  growing  up  in  it,  and  honeysuckle  climbing 
over  it. 

"  It  is  inside  this  thicket,"  said  the  Hare. 
"  Let  us  go  all  round,  and  see  if  we  can  find  a 
way  in." 

There  was  a  place  under  an  ash-stole,  where 
Bevis  could  just  creep  beneath  the  boughs  (the 
boughs  held  up  the  brambles),  and  after  going  on 
his  hands  and  knees  after  the  Hare  a  good  way, 
he  found  himself  inside  the  thicket,  where  there 
was  an  open  space  grown  over  with  raspberry  canes. 
Bevis  shouted  with  delight  as  he  saw  the  rasp- 
berries were  ripe,  and  began  to  eat  them  at 
once. 

"How  ever  did  they  get  here?"  he  asked. 

"  I  think  it  was  the  thrush,"  said  the  Hare. 
"  It  was  one  of  the  birds,  no  doubt.  They  take 
the  fruit  out  of  the  orchards  and  gardens,  and  that 
was  how  it  came  here,  I  dare  say.  Now,  don't 
you  go  outside  the  thicket  till  the  Squirrel  comes. 
And  when  you  have  quite  done  talking  to  the 
Squirrel,  ask  him  to  show  you  the  way  back  to 
the  timber,  and  there  I  will  meet  you,  and  lead  you 


THE    SQUIRREL.  141 

to  the  wheat-field,  where  you  can  see  the  oak  tree, 
and  know  your  way  home.  Mind  you  do  not  go 
outside  the  thicket  without  the  Squirrel,  or  you  will 
lose  your  way,  and  wander  about  among  the  trees 
till  it  is  night." 

Off  went  the  Hare  to  find  the  Squirrel,  and 
Bevis  set  to  work  to  eat  as  many  of  the  raspberries 
as  he  could. 

Among  the  raspberry  canes  he  found  three  or 
four  rabbit-holes,  and  hearing  the  rabbits  talking 
to  each  other,  he  stooped  down  to  listen.  They 
were  talking  scandal  about  the  Hare,  and  saying 
that  she  was  very  naughty,  and  rambled  about  too 
much.  At  this  Bevis  was  very  angry,  and  stamped 
his  foot  above  the  hole,  and  told  them  they  ought 
to  be  ashamed  of  themselves  for  saying  such  things. 
The  rabbits  very  much  frightened,  went  down  farther 
into  their  holes.  After  which  Bevis  ate  a  great 
many  more  raspberries,  and  presently,  feeling  very 
lazy,  he  lay  down  on  some  moss  at  the  foot  of 
an  oak-tree,  and  kicked  his  heels  on  the  ground, 
and  looked  up  at  the  blue  sky,  as  he  always  did 
when  he  wanted  some  one  to  speak  to.  He  did 
not  know  how  long  he  had  been  gazing  at  the  sky, 


142  WOOD    MAGIC. 

when  he  heard  some  one  say,  "  Bevis,  dear ! "  and 
turning  that  way  he  saw  the  Squirrel,  who  had 
come  up  very  quietly,  and  was  sitting  on  one  of  the 
lower  branches  of  the  oak,  close  to  him. 

"  Well,  Squirrel,"  said  Bevis,  sitting  up ;  "  the 
Toad  said  I  was  to  remember  him  to  you.  And 
now  be  very  quick,  and  tell  me  all  you  know  about 
Kapchack,  and  who  it  is  he  is  in  love  with,  and  all 
about  the  rebel,  Choo  Hoo,  and  everything  else,  in 
a  minute." 

"  Well,  you  are  in  a  hurry,"  said  the  Squirrel, 
laughing;  "and  so  am  I,  generally;  but  this  after- 
noon I  have  nothing  to  do,  and  I  am  very  glad 
you  have  come,  dear.  Now,  first " 

"  First,"  said  Bevis,  interrupting,  "  why  did  the 
starling  say  it  was  a  great  secret,  when  everybody 
knew  it?" 

"  It  was  a  great  secret,"  said  the  Squirrel,  "  till 
Prince  Tchack-tchack  came  down  here  (he  is  the 
heir,  you  know)  in  a  dreadful  fit  of  temper,  and  told 
the  tomtit  whom  he  met  in  the  fir-tree,  and  the 
tomtit  told  the  woodpecker,  and  the  woodpecker  told 
the  starling,  who  told  his  lady-love  on  the  chimney, 
and  the  fly  heard  him,  and  when  you  opened  the 


THE    SQUIRREL.  143 

window  the  fly  went  out  and  buzzed  it  to  everybody 
while  you  were  at  breakfast.  By  this  time  it  is 
all  over  the  world ;  and  I  daresay  even  the  sea-gulls, 
though  they  live  such  a  long  way  off,  have  heard 
it.  Kapchack  is  beside  himself  with  rage  that  it 
should  be  known,  and  Tchack-tchack  is  afraid  to  go 
near  him.  He  made  a  great  peck  at  Tchack-tchack 
just  now." 

"  But  why  should  there  be  so  much  trouble  about 
it?"  said  Bevis. 

"  Oh/'  said  the  Squirrel,  "  it  is  a  very  serious 
business,  let  me  tell  you.  It  is  not  an  ordinary 
falling  in  love,  it  is  nothing  less  than  a  complete 
revolution  of  everything,  and  it  will  upset  all  the 
rules  and  laws  that  have  been  handed  down  ever 
since  the  world  began." 

"  Dear  me  !  "  said  Bevis.  "  And  who  is  it  Kap- 
chack is  in  love  with  ?  I  have  asked  twenty  people, 
but  no  one  will  tell  me/' 

"  Why,  I  am  telling  you,"  said  the  Squirrel. 
"Don't  you  see,  if  it  had  been  an  ordinary  affair — 
only  a  young  magpie — it  would  not  have  mattered 
much,  though  I  daresay  the  queen  would  have  been 
jealous,  but  this " 


144  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"Who  is  it?"  said  Bevis,  in  a  rage.  "Why 
don't  you  tell  me  who  it  is  ?  " 

"  I  am  telling  you/'  said  the  Squirrel,  sharply. 

"No,  you're  not.  You're  telling  me  a  lot  of 
things,  but  not  what  I  want  to  know." 

"Oh,  well,"  said  the  Squirrel,  tossing  his  head 
and  swishing  his  tail,  "  of  course,  if  you  know  more 
about  it  than  I  do  it  is  no  use  my  staying."  So 
off  he  went  in  a  pet. 

Up  jumped  Bevis.  "You're  a  stupid  donkey," 
he  shouted,  and  ran  across  to  the  other  side,  and 
threw  a  piece  of  stick  up  into  an  elm-tree  after  the 
Squirrel.  But  the  Squirrel  was  so  quick  he  could 
not  see  which  way  he  had  gone,  and  in  half-a- 
minute  he  heard  the  Squirrel  say  very  softly, 
"  Bevis,  dear,"  behind  him,  and  looked  back,  and 
there  he  was  sitting  on  the  oak  bough  again. 

The  Squirrel,  as  the  Toad  had  said,  was  really  a 
very  good  fellow ;  he  was  very  quick  to  take  offence, 
but  his  temper  only  lasted  a  minute.  "  Bevis,  dear," 
he  said ;  "  come  back  and  sit  down  again  on  the  moss, 
and  I  will  tell  you." 

"  I  shan't  come  back,"  said  Bevis,  rather  sulkily. 
"  I  shall  sit  here." 


THE    SQUIRREL.  145 

"  No,  no ;  don't  stop  there,-"  said  the  Squirrel, 
very  anxiously.  " Don't  stop  there,  dear;  can't  you 
see  that  great  bough  above  you;  that  elm-tree  is 
very  wicked,  and  full  of  malice,  do  not  stop  there, 
he  may  hurt  you." 

"Pooh!  what  rubbish  \"  said  Bevis;  "I  don't 
believe  you.  It  is  a  very  nice  elm,  I  am  sure. 
Besides,  how  can  he  hurt  me  ?  He  has  got  no  legs, 
and  he  can't  run  after  me,  and  he  has  no  hands 
and  he  can't  catch  me.  I'm  not  a  bit  afraid  of 
him;"  and  he  kicked  the  elm  with  all  his  might. 
Without  waiting  a  second,  the  Squirrel  jumped  down 
out  of  the  oak  and  ran  across  and  caught  hold  of 
Bevis  by  his  stocking — he  could  not  catch  hold  of 
his  jacket — and  tried  to  drag  him  away.  Seeing  the 
Squirrel  in  such  an  excited  state,  Bevis  went  with 
him  to  please  him,  and  sat  down  on  the  moss  under 
the  oak.  The  Squirrel  went  up  on  the  bough,  and 
Bevis  laughed  at  him  for  being  so  silly. 

"  Ah,  but  my  dear  Sir  Bevis,"  said  the  Squirrel, 
"you  do  not  know  all,  or  you  would  not  say  what 
you  did.  You  think  because  the  elm  has  no  legs, 
and  cannot  run  after  you,  and  because  he  has  no 
hands,  and  cannot  catch  you,  that  therefore  he  can- 

K 


146  WOOD    MAGIC. 

not  do  you  any  harm.  You  are  very  much  mistaken ; 
that  is  a  very  malicious  elm,  and  of  a  very  wicked 
disposition.  Elms,  indeed,  are  very  treacherous,  and 
I  recommend  you  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  them, 
dear." 

"  But  how  could  he  hurt  me  ?  "  said  Bevis. 

"  He  can  wait  till  you  go  under  him,"  said  the 
Squirrel,  "  and  then  drop  that  big  bough  on  you. 
He  has  had  that  bough  waiting  to  drop  on  somebody 
for  quite  ten  years.  Just  look  up  and  see  how  thick 
it  is,  and  heavy,  why,  it  would  smash  a  man  out 
flat.  Now,  the  reason  the  elms  are  so  dangerous 
is  because  they  will  wait  so  long  till  somebody 
passes.  Trees  can  do  a  great  deal,  I  can  tell  you ; 
why  I  have  known  a  tree  when  it  could  not  drop  a 
bough,  fall  down  altogether  when  there  was  not  a 
breath  of  wind,  nor  any  lightning,  just  to  kill  a 
cow  or  a  sheep,  out  of  sheer  bad  temper." 

"  But  oaks  do  not  fall,  do  they  ?  "  asked  Bevis ; 
looking  up  in  some  alarm  at  the  oak  above  him. 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  the  Squirrel ;  "  the  oak  is  a  very 
good  tree,  and  so  is  the  beech  and  the  ash,  and  many 
more  (though  I  am  not  quite  certain  of  the  horse- 
cnestnut,  I  have  heard  of  his  playing  tricks),  but 


THE    SQUIEKEL.  147 

the  elm  is  not;  if  he  can  he  will  do  something 
spiteful.  I  never  go  up  an  elm  if  I  can  help  it,  not 
unless  I  am  frightened  by  a  dog  or  somebody  coming 
along.  The  only  fall  I  ever  had  was  out  of  an 
elm. 

"  I  ran  up  one  in  a  hurry,  away  from  that  wretch, 
the  Weasel  (you  know  him),  and  put  my  foot  on  a 
dried  branch,  and  the  elm,  like  a  treacherous  thing  as 
he  is,  let  it  go,  and  down  I  went  crash,  and  should 
have  hurt  myself  very  much  if  my  old  friend  the 
ivy  had  not  put  out  a  piece  for  me  to  catch  hold  of, 
and  so  just  saved  me.  As  for  you,  dear,  don't  you 
ever  sit  under  an  elm,  for  you  are  very  likely  to 
take  cold  there,  there  is  always  a  draught  under  an 
elm  on  the  warmest  day. 

"  If  it  should  come  on  to  rain  while  you  are  out 
for  a  walk,  be  sure  and  not  go  under  an  elm  for 
shelter  if  the  wind  is  blowing,  for  the  elm,  if  he 
possibly  can,  will  take  advantage  of  the  storm  to 
smash  you. 

"  And  elms  are  so  patient,  they  will  wait  sixty 
or  seventy  years  to  do  somebody  an  injury;  if  they 
cannot  get  a  branch  ready  to  fall  they  will  let  the 
rain  in  at  a  knot-hole,  and  so  make  it  rotten  inside, 


148  WOOD    MAGIC. 

though  it  looks  green  without,  or  ask  some  fungus 
to  come  up  and  grow  there,  and  so  get  the  bough 
ready  for  them.  That  elm  across  there  is  quite 
rotten  inside — there  is  a  hole  inside  so  big  you  could 
stand  up,  and  yet  if  anybody  went  by  they  would 
say  what  a  splendid  tree. 

"  But  if  you  asked  Kauhaha,  the  rook,  he  would 
shake  his  head,  and  decline  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  that  tree.  So  my  dear  Sir  Bevis,  do  not  you 
think  any  more  that  because  a  thing  has  no  legs,  nor 
arms,  nor  eyes,  nor  ears,  that  therefore  it  cannot  hurt 
you.  There  is  the  earth  for  instance ;  you  may  stamp 
on  the  earth  with  your  feet  and  she  will  not  say 
anything,  she  will  put  up  with  anything,  but  she 
is  always  lying  in  wait  all  the  same,  and  if  you 
could  only  find  all  the  money  she  has  buried  you 
would  be  the  richest  man  in  the  world ;  I  could  tell 
you  something  about  that.  The  flints  even — " 

"Now  I  do  not  believe  what  you  are  going  to 
say/'  said  Bevis,  "I  am  sure  the  flints  cannot  do 
anything,  for  I  have  picked  up  hundreds  of  them  and 
flung  them  splash  into  the  brook." 

"  But  I  assure  you  they  can/'  said  the  Squirrel. 
"  I  will  tell  you  a  story  about  a  flint  that  happened 


THE    SQUIRREL.  149 

only  a  short  time  since,  and  then  you  will  believe. 
Once  upon  a  time  a  waggon  was  sent  upon  the  hills 
to  fetch  a  load  of  flints,  it  was  a  very  old  waggon, 
and  it  wanted  mending,  for  it  belonged  to  a  man 
who  never  would  mend  anything/' 

"Who  was  that? "  said  Bevis.  "What  a  curious 
man." 

"  It  was  the  same  old  gentleman  (he  is  a  farmer, 
only  he  is  like  your  papa,  Sir  Bevis,  and  his  land  is 
his  own),  the  same  old  gentleman  who  is  so  fond 
of  Kapchack,  whose  palace  is  in  his  orchard.  Well, 
the  waggon  went  up  on  the  hills,  where  the  men 
had  dug  up  some  flints  which  had  been  lying  quite 
motionless  in  the  ground  for  so  many  thousand 
years  that  nobody  could  count  them.  There  were  at 
least  five  thousand  flints,  and  the  waggon  went 
jolting  down  the  hill  and  on  to  the  road,  and  as 
it  went  the  flints  tried  to  get  out,  but  they  could 
not  manage  it,  none  but  one  flint,  which  was  smaller 
than  the  rest. 

"  This  one  flint,  of  all  the  five  thousand,  squeezed 
out  of  a  hole  in  the  bottom  of  the  waggon,  and 
fell  on  the  dust  in  the  road,  and  was  left  there. 
There  was  not  much  traffic  on  the  road  (it  is  the 


150  WOOD    MAGIC. 

same,  dear,  that  goes  to  Southampton,  where  the 
ships  are),  so  that  it  remained  where  it  fell.  Only 
one  waggon  came  by  with  a  load  of  hay,  and  had 
the  wheel  gone  over  the  flint  of  course  it  would 
have  been  crushed  to  pieces.  But  the  waggoner, 
instead  of  walking  by  his  horses,  was  on  the  grass 
at  the  side  of  the  road  talking  to  a  labourer  in  the 
field,  and  his  team  did  not  pass  on  their  right  side 
of  the  road,  but  more  in  the  middle,  and  so  the  flint 
was  not  crushed. 

"In  the  evening,  when  it  was  dark,  a  very  old 
and  very  wealthy  gentleman  came  along  in  his  dog- 
cart, and  his  horse,  which  was  a  valuable  one,  chanced 
to  slip  on  the  flint,  which,  being  sharp  and  jagged, 
hurt  its  hoof,  and  down  the  horse  fell.  The  elderly 
gentleman  and  his  groom,  who  was  driving,  were 
thrown  out,  the  groom  was  not  hurt,  but  his  master 
broke  his  arm,  and  the  horse  broke  his  knees.  The 
gentleman  was  so  angry  that  no  sooner  did  he  get 
home  than  he  dismissed  the  groom,  though  it  was 
no  fault  of  his,  for  how  could  he  see  the  flint  in 
the  night  ?  Nor  would  he  give  the  man  a  character, 
and  the  consequence  was  he  could  not  find  another 
place.  He  soon  began  to  starve,  and  then  he  was 


THE    SQUIRREL.  151 

obliged  to  steal,  and  after  a  while  lie  became  a 
burglar. 

"  One  night  he  entered  a  house  in  London,  and 
was  getting  on  well,  and  stealing  gold  watches  and 
such  things,  when  somebody  opened  the  door  and 
tried  to  seize  him.  Pulling  out  his  pistol,  he  shot  his 
assailant  dead  on  the  spot,  and  at  once  escaped,  and 
has  not  since  been  heard  of,  though  you  may  be  sure 
if  he  is  caught  he  will  be  hung,  and  they  are  looking 
very  sharp  after  him,  because  he  stole  a  box  with  some 
papers  in  it  which  are  said  to  be  of  great  value.  And 
the  person  he  shot  was  the  same  gentleman  who  had 
discharged  him  because  the  horse  fell  down.  Now 
all  this  happened  through  the  flint,  and  as  I  told 
you,  Bevis  dear,  about  the  elm,  the  danger  with 
such  things  is  that  they  will  wait  so  long  to  do 
mischief. 

"This  flint,  you  see,  waited  so  many  years  that 
nobody  could  count  them,  till  the  waggon  came  to 
fetch  it.  They  are  never  tired  of  waiting.  Be  very 
careful,  Bevis  dear,  how  you  climb  up  a  tree,  or 
how  you  put  your  head  out  of  window,  for  there  is  a 
thing  that  is  always  lying  in  wait,  and  will  pull  you 
down  in  a  minute,  if  you  do  not  take  care.  It  has 


152  WOOD    MAGIC. 

been  waiting  there  to  make  something  fall  ever  since 
the  beginning  of  the  world,  long  before  your  house 
was  built,  dear,  or  before  any  of  the  trees  grew.  You 
cannot  see  it,  but  it  is  there,  as  you  may  prove  by 
putting  your  cap  out  of  window,  which  in  a  second 
will  begin  to  fall  down,  as  you  would  if  you  were 
tilted  out. 

"  And  I  daresay  you  have  seen  people  swimming, 
which  is  a  very  pleasant  thing,  I  hear  from  the  wild 
ducks;  but  all  the  time  the  water  is  lying  in  wait, 
and  if  they  stop  swimming  a  minute  they  will  be 
drowned,  and  although  a  man  very  soon  gets  tired 
of  swimming,  the  water  never  gets  tired  of  waiting, 
but  is  always  ready  to  drown  him. 

"Also,  it  is  the  same  with  your  candle,  Bevis  dear, 
and  this  the  bat  told  me,  for  he  once  saw  it  happen  : 
looking  in  at  a  window  as  he  flew  by,  and  he 
shrieked  as  loud  as  he  could,  but  his  voice  is  so  very 
shrill  that  it  is  not  everybody  can  hear  him,  and 
all  his  efforts  were  in  vain.  For  a  lady  had  gone 
to  sleep  in  bed  and  left  her  candle  burning  on  the 
dressing-table,  just  where  she  had  left  it  fifty  times 
before,  and  found  it  burnt  down  to  the  socket  in 
the  morning,  and  no  harm  done.  But  that  night 


THE    SQUIRREL.  153 

she  had  had  a  new  pair  of  gloves,  which  were 
wrapped  up  in  a  piece  of  paper,  and  she  undid  these 
gloves  and  left  the  piece  of  paper  underneath  the 
candlestick,  and  yet  it  would  not  have  hurt  had  the 
candle  been  put  up  properly,  but  instead  of  that  a 
match  had  been  stuck  in  at  the  side,  like  a  wedge, 
to  keep  it  up.  "When  the  flame  came  down  to  the 
match  the  match  caught  fire,  and  when  it  had  burnt 
a  little  way  down,  that  piece  fell  off,  and  dropped 
on  the  paper  in  which  the  gloves  had  been  wrapped. 
The  paper  being  very  thin  was  alight  in  an  instant, 
and  from  the  paper  the  flame  travelled  to  some  gauze 
things  hung  on  the  looking-glass,  and  from  that  to 
the  window  curtains,  and  from  the  window  curtains 
to  the  bed  curtains,  till  the  room  was  in  a  blaze, 
and  though  the  bat  shrieked  his  loudest  the  lady  did 
not  wake  till  she  was  very  much  burnt. 

"  Also  with  the  sea ;  for  the  cod-fish  told  the  sea- 
gull, who  told  the  heron,  who  related  the  fact  to 
the  kingfisher,  who  informed  me.  The  cod-fish  was 
swimming  about  in  the  sea  and  saw  a  ship  at 
anchor,  and  coming  by  the  chain-cable  the  fish  saw 
that  one  of  the  links  of  the  chain  was  nearly  eaten 
through  with  rust ;  but  as  the  wind  was  calm  it  did 


154  WOOD    MAGIC. 

not  matter.  Next  time  the  ship  came  there  to  anchor 
the  cod-fish  looked  again;  and  the  rust  had  gone  still 
further  into  the  link.  A  third  time  the  ship  came 
back  to  anchor  there,  and  the  sailors  went  to  sleep 
thinking  it  was  all  right,  but  the  cod-fish  swam  by 
and  saw  that  the  link  only  just  held.  In  the  night 
there  came  a  storm,  and  the  sailors  woke  up  to  find 
the  vessel  drifting  on  the  rocks,  where  she  was 
broken  to  pieces,  and  hardly  any  of  them  escaped. 

"  Also,  with  Living  Things,  Bevis  dear ;  for  there 
was  once  a  little  creeping  thing  (the  sun-beetle  told 
me  he  heard  it  from  his  grandfather)  which  bored 
a  hole  into  a  beam  under  the  floor  of  a  room — the  hole 
was  so  tiny  you  could  scarcely  see  it,  and  the  beam 
was  so  big  twenty  men  could  not  lift  it.  After  the 
creeping  thing  had  bored  this  little  hole  it  died, 
but  it  left  ten  children,  and  they  bored  ten  more 
little  holes,  and  when  they  died  they  left  ten  each, 
and  they  bored  a  hundred  holes,  and  left  a  thousand, 
and  they  bored  a  thousand  holes,  and  they  left  a 
thousand  tens,  who  bored  ten  thousand  holes,  and 
left  ten  thousand  tens,  and  they  bored  one  hundred 
thousand  holes,  and  left  one  hundred  thousand  tens, 
and  they  bored  a  million  holes;  and  when  a  great 


THE     SQUIRREL.  155 

number  of  people  met  in  the  room  to  hear  a  man 
speak,  down  the  beam  fell  crash,  and  they  were  all 
dreadfully  injured. 

"  Now,  therefore,  Bevis,  my  dear  little  Sir  Bevis, 
do  you  take  great  care  and  never  think  any  more 
that  a  thing  cannot  hurt  you,  because  it  has  not  got 
any  legs,  and  cannot  run  after  you,  or  because  it  has 
no  hands,  and  cannot  catch  you,  or  because  it  is  very 
tiny,  and  you  cannot  see  it,  but  could  kill  a  thousand 
with  the  heel  of  your  boot.  For  as  I  told  you  about 
the  malice-minded  elm,  all  these  things  are  so  terribly 
dangerous,  because  they  can  wait  so  long,  and  be- 
cause they  never  forget. 

"  Therefore,  if  you  climb  up  a  tree,  be  sure  and  re- 
member to  hold  tight,  and  not  forget,  for  the  earth 
will  not  forget,  but  will  pull  you  down  to  it  thump, 
and  hurt  you  very  much.  And  remember  if  you 
walk  by  the  water  that  it  is  water,  and  do  not  for- 
get, for  the  water  will  not  forget,  and  if  you 
should  fall  in,  will  let  you  sink  and  drown  you.  And 
if  you  take  a  candle  be  careful  what  you  are  doing, 
and  do  not  forget  that  fire  will  burn,  for  the  fire  will  not 
forget,  but  will  always  be  on  the  look  out  and  ready, 
and  will  burn  you  without  mercy.  And  be  sure  to 


156  WOOD    MAGIC. 

see  that  no  little  unseen  creeping  thing  is  at  work, 
for  they  are  everywhere  boring  holes  into  the  beam 
of  life  till  it  cracks  unexpectedly ;  but  you  must  stay 
till  you  are  older,  and  have  eaten  the  peck  of  salt 
your  papa  tells  you  about  before  you  can  understand 
all  that.  Now/' 

"  But/'  said  Bevis,  who  had  been  listening  to 
the  story  very  carefully,  "you  have  not  told  me 
about  the  wind.  You  have  told  me  about  the  earth, 
and  the  water,  and  the  fire,  but  you  have  not  said 
anything  about  the  wind/' 

"  No  more  I  have,"  said  the  Squirrel.  "  You 
see  I  forget,  though  the  earth  does  not,  neither 
does  the  water,  nor  the  fire.  Well,  the  Wind  is 
the  nicest  of  all  of  them,  and  you  need  never  be 
afraid  of  the  Wind,  for  he  blows  so  sweetly,  and 
brings  the  odour  of  flowers,  and  fills  you  with  life, 
and  joy,  and  happiness.  And  oh,  Bevis  dear,  you 
should  listen  to  the  delicious  songs  he  sings, 
and  the  stories  he  tells  as  he  goes  through  the 
fir-tree  and  the  oak.  Of  course  if  you  are  on  the 
ground,  so  far  below,  you  can  only  hear  a  sound 
of  whispering,  unless  your  ears  are  very  sharp ; 
but  if  you  were  up  in  the  boughs  with  me, 


THE    SQUIREEL.  157 

you  would  be  enchanted  with  the  beauty  of  his 
voice. 

"  No,  dear,  never  be  afraid  of  the  Wind,  but 
put  your  doors  open  and  let  him  come  in,  and 
throw  your  window  open  and  let  him  wander  round 
the  room,  and  take  your  cap  off  sometimes,  and 
let  him  stroke  your  hair.  The  Wind  is  a  darling 
— I  love  the  Wind,  and  so  do  you,  dear,  for  I 
have  seen  you  racing  about  when  the  Wind  was 
rough,  chasing  the  leaves  and  shouting  with  delight. 
Now  with  the  Wind  it  is  just  the  reverse  to  what 
it  is  with  all  the  others.  If  you  fall  on  the  earth 
it  thumps  you  ;  into  the  water,  it  drowns  you ; 
into  the  fire,  it  burns  you ;  but  you  cannot  do 
without  wind. 

"Always  remember  that  you  must  have  wind, 
dear,  and  do  not  get  into  a  drawer,  as  I  have 
heard  of  boys  doing,  from  the  Mouse,  who  goes 
about  a  good  deal  indoors,  and  being  suffocated  for 
want  of  wind  ;  or  into  a  box,  or  a  hole,  or  any- 
where where  there  is  no  wind.  It  is  true  he  some- 
times comes  along  with  a  most  tremendous  push, 
and  the  trees  go  cracking  over.  That  is  only  be- 
cause they  are  malice-minded,  and  are  rotten  at  the 


158  WOOD    MAGIC. 

heart ;  and  the  boughs  break  off,  that  is  only 
because  they  have  invited  the  fungus  to  grow  on 
them  ;  and  the  thatch  on  your  papa's  ricks  is 
lifted  up  at  the  corner  just  as  if  the  Wind  had 
chucked  them  under  the  chin. 

"  But  that  is  nothing.  Everybody  loses  his  tem- 
per now  and  then,  and  why  not  the  Wind  ?  You 
should  see  the  nuts  he  knocks  down  for  me  where 
I  could  not  very  well  reach  them,  and  the  showers 
of  acorns,  and  the  apples !  I  take  an  apple  out  of 
your  orchard,  dear,  sometimes,  but  I  do  not  mean 
any  harm — it  is  only  one  or  two.  I  love  the  Wind ! 
But  do  not  go  near  an  elm,  dear,  when  the  wind 
blows,  for  the  elm,  as  I  told  you,  is  a  malicious 
tree,  and  will  seize  any  pretence,  or  a  mere  puff, 
to  do  mischief." 

"I  love  the  Wind,  too  !"  said  Bevis.  "He  sings 
to  me  down  the  chimney,  and  hums  to  me  through 
the  door,  and  whistles  up  in  the  attic,  and  shouts 
at  me  from  the  trees.  Oh,  yes,  I  will  do  as  you 
say;  I  will  always  have  plenty  of  the  Wind.  You 
are  a  very  nice  Squirrel.  I  like  you  very  much ;  and 
you  have  a  lovely  silky  tail.  But  you  have  not 
told  me  yet  who  it  is  Kapchack  is  in  love  with." 


THE    SQUIRREL.  159 

"  I  have  been  telling  you  all  the  time,"  said 
the  Squirrel ;  "  but  you  are  in  such  a  hurry ;  and, 
as  I  was  saying,  if  it  was  only  a  young  magpie, 
now — only  an  ordinary  affair — very  likely  the  queen 
would  be  jealous,  indeed,  and  there  would  be  a  fight 
in  the  palace,  which  would  be  nothing  at  all  new, 
but  this  is  much  more  serious,  a  very  serious  matter, 
and  none  can  tell  how  it  will  end.  As  Kauc,  the 
crow,  was  saying  to  Cloctaw,  the  jackdaw,  .this 
morning " 

"  But  who  is  it  ? "  asked  Bevis,  jumping  up 
again  in  a  rage. 

"  Why,  everybody  knows  who  it  is,"  said  the 
Squirrel;  "from  the  ladybird  to  the  heron;  from 
the  horse  to  the  mouse;  and  everybody  is  talking 
of  it,  and  as  since  the  Raven  went  away,  there 
is  no  judge  to  settle  any  dispute — " 

al  hate  you!"  said  Bevis,  "you  do  talk  so 
much ;  but  you  do  not  tell  me  what  I  want  to 
know.  You  are  a  regular  donkey,  and  I  will  pull 
your  tail." 

He  snatched  at  the  Squirrel's  tail,  but  the 
Squirrel  was  too  quick ;  he  jumped  up  the  boughs 
and  showed  his  white  teeth,  and  ran  away  in  a  temper. 


160  WOOD    MAGIC. 

Bevis  looked  all  round,  but  could  not  see  him, 
and  as  he  was  looking,  a  dragon-fly  came  and  said 
that  the  Squirrel  had  sent  him  to  say  that  he 
was  very  much  hurt,  and  thought  Bevis  was  ex- 
tremely rude  to  him,  but  he  had  told  the  dragon- 
fly to  show  him  the  way  to  the  piece  of  timber, 
and  if  he  would  come  back  to-morrow,  and  not 
be  so  rude,  he  should  hear  all  about  it.  So  the 
dragon-fly  led  Bevis  to  the  piece  of  timber,  where 
the  Hare  was  waiting,  and  the  Hare  led  him  to 
the  wheat-field,  and  showed  him  the  top  of  the 
great  oak-tree,  and  from  there  he  easily  found  his 
way  home  to  tea. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE    COURTIERS. 

THE  next  morning  passed  quickly,  Bevis  having  so 
much  to  do.  Hur-hur,  the  pig,  asked  him  to  dig 
up  some  earth-nuts  for  him  with  his  knife,  for  the 
ground  was  hard  from  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  he 
could  not  thrust  his  snout  in.  Then  Pan,  the  spaniel, 
had  to  be  whipped  very  severely  because  he  would 
not  climb  a  tree ;  and  so  the  morning  was  taken  up. 
After  the  noontide  heat  had  decreased,  Bevis  again 
started,  and  found  his  way  by  the  aid  of  the  oak 
to  the  corner  of  the  wheat-field.  The  dragon-fly  was 
waiting  for  him  with  a  message  from  the  Hare, 
saying  that  she  had  been  invited  to  a  party  on  the 
hills,  so  the  dragon-fly  would  guide  him  into  the 
copse. 

Flying  before  him,  the  dragon-fly  Jed  the  way, 
often  going  a  long  distance  ahead,  and  coming  back 
in  a  minute,  for  he  moved  so  rapidly  it  was  not 
possible  for  Bevis  to  keep  pace  with  him,  and  he  was 


162  WOOD    MAGIC. 

too  restless  to  stand  still.  Bevis  walked  carefully 
over  the  bridge,  holding  to  the  rail,  as  the  Toad  had 
told  him;  and  passing  the  thistles,  and  the  grass, 
and  the  ferns,  came  to  the  piece  of  timber.  There 
he  sat  down  to  rest,  while  the  dragon-fly  played 
to  and  fro,  now  rising  to  the  top  of  the  trees,  and 
now  darting  down  again,  to  show  off  his  dexterity. 
While  he  was  sitting  there  a  crow  came  along  and 
looked  at  him  hard,  but  said  nothing;  and  imme- 
diately afterwards  a  jackdaw  went  over,  remarking 
what  a  lovely  day  it  was. 

"  Now  take  me  to  the  raspberries,"  said  Bevis ; 
and  the  dragon-fly,  winding  in  and  out  the  trees, 
brought  him  to  the  thicket,  showed  him  the  place 
to  creep  in,  and  left,  promising  to  return  by-and-by 
and  fetch  him  when  it  was  tune  to  go  home.  Bevis, 
warm  with  walking  in  the  sunshine,  after  he  had 
crept  into  the  raspberries,  went  across  and  sat  down 
on  the  moss  under  the  oak;  and  he  had  hardly 
leant  his  back  against  the  tree  than  the  Squirrel 
came  along  on  the  ground  and  sat  beside  him. 

"  You  are  just  in  time,  my  dear/'  he  said,  speak- 
ing low  and  rapidly,  and  glancing  round  to  see  that 
no  one  was  near ;  "  for  there  is  going  to  be  a 


THE    COURTIERS.  168 

secret  council  of  the  courtiers  this  afternoon,  while 
Kapchack  takes  his  nap ;  and  in  order  that  none  of  the 
little  birds  may  play  the  spy  and  carry  information 
to  the  police,  Kauc,  the  crow,  has  been  flying-  round 
and  driving  them  away,  so  that  there  is  not  so  much 
as  a  robin  left  in  the  copse.  This  is  an  employment 
that  suits  him  very  well,  for  he  loves  to  play  the 
tyrant.  Perhaps  you  saw  him  coming  in.  And 
this  council  is  about  Kapchack's  love  affair,  and  to 
decide  what  is  to  be  done,  and  whether  it  can  be 
put  up  with,  or  whether  they  must  refuse  to  receive 
h'er." 

"  And  who  is  she  ?  "  said  Bevis  ;    "  you  keep  on 
talking,   but   you  do    not  tell   me."      The    Squirrel 
pricked  up  his  ears  and  looked  cross,  but  he  heard 
the   people  coming  to    the  council,  and  knew  there 
was  no  time  to  be  lost  in  quarrelling,  so  he  did  not  go 
off  in  a  pet  this  time.      "The  lady  is  the  youngest 
jay,  dear,  in  the  wood ;  La  Schach  is  her  name ;  she 
is  sweetly  pretty,  and  dresses  charmingly  in  blue  and 
brown.      She  is    sweetly    pretty,    though    they    say 
rather   a  flirt,  and  flighty   in   her   ways.      She  has 
captivated  a  great  many  with  her  bright  colour,  and 
now  this  toothless  old  Kapchack — but  hush  !    It  is  a 


164  WOOD    MAGIC. 

terrible  scandal.      I    hear    them   coming;    slip    this 
way,  Bevis  dear." 

Bevis  went  after  him  under  the  brambles  and  the 
ferns  till  he  found  a  place  in  a  hollow  ash-stole, 
where  it  was  hung  all  round  with  honey  suckle,  and 
then,  doing  as  the  Squirrel  told  him,  he  sat  down, 
and  was  quite  concealed  from  sight ;  while  the 
Squirrel  stopped  on  a  bough  just  over  his  head, 
where  he  could  whisper  and  explain  things.  Though 
Bevis  was  himself  hidden,  he  could  see  very  well  ; 
and  he  had  not  been  there  a  minute  before  he  heard 
a  rustling,  and  saw  the  Fox  come  stealthily  out 
from  the  fern,  and  sit  under  an  ancient  hollow  pollard 
close  by. 

The  Stoat  came  close  behind  him;  he  was 
something  like  the  Weasel,  and  they  say  a  near 
relation;  he  is  much  bolder  than  the  Weasel,  but 
not  one  quarter  so  cunning.  He  is  very  jealous,  too, 
of  the  power  the  Weasel  has  got  on  account  of  his 
cunning,  and  if  he  could  he  would  strangle  his  kins- 
man. The  Rat  could  not  attend,  having  very  im- 
portant business  at  the  brook  that  day,  but  he  had 
sent  the  Mouse  to  listen  and  tell  him  all  that  was 
said.  The  Fox  looked  at  the  Mouse  askance  from 


THE     COURTIERS.  165 

the  corner  of  his  eye;  and  the  Stoat  could  not 
refrain  from  licking  his  lips,  though  it  was  well 
understood  that  at  these  assemblies  all  private  feel- 
ings were  to  be  rigidly  suppressed.  So  that  the 
Mouse  was  quite  safe;  still,  seeing  the  Fox's  glance, 
and  the  Stoat's  teeth  glistening,  he  kept  very  near 
a  little  hole  under  a  stole,  where  he  could  rush  in  if 
alarmed. 

"  I  understood  Prince  Tchack-tchack  was  coming/' 
said  the  Fox,  "but  I  don't  see  him." 

"  I  heard  the  same  thing,"  said  the  Stoat.  "  He's 
very  much  upset  about  this  business." 

"  Ah,"  said  the  Fox,  "  perhaps  he  had  an  eye 
himself  to  this  beautiful  young  creature.  Depend 
upon  it  there's  more  under  the  surface  than  we 
have  heard  of  yet."  Just  then  a  message  came 
from  the  Weasel  regretting  very  much  that  he  could 
not  be  present,  owing  to  indisposition,  but  saying  that 
he  quite  agreed  with  all  that  was  going  to  be  said, 
and  that  he  would  act  as  the  others  decided,  and 
follow  them  in  all  things.  This  message  was  delivered 
by  a  humble-bee,  who  having  repeated  all  the  Weasel 
had  told  him  to,  went  buzzing  on  among  the 
thistles. 


]66  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"  I  do  not  quite  like  this/'  said  a  deep  hollow 
voice ;  and  looking  up,  Bevis  saw  the  face  of  the  Owl 
at  the  mouth  of  a  hole  in  the  pollard-tree.  He  was 
winking  in  the  light,  and  could  not  persuade  himself 
to  come  out,  which  was  the  reason  the  council  was 
held  at  the  foot  of  his  house,  as  it  was  necessary  he 
should  take  part  in  it.  "I  do  not  quite  like  this," 
said  the  Owl,  very  solemnly.  "  Is  the  Weasel  sincere 
in  all  he  says?  Is  he  really  unwell,  or  does  he  keep 
away  in  order  that  if  Kapchack  hears  of  this  meeting 
he  may  say,  'I  was  not  there.  I  did  not  take  any 
part  in  it?'" 

"That  is  very  likely,"  said  the  Stoat.  "He 
is  capable  of  anything — I  say  it  with  sorrow,  as  he 
is  so  near  a  relation,  but  the  fact  is,  gentlemen,  the 
Weasel  is  not  what  he  ought  to  be,  and  has,  I  am 
afraid,  much  disgraced  our  family." 

"Let  us  send  for  the  Weasel,"  said  the  Hawk, 
who  just  then  came  and  alighted  on  the  tree  above 
the  Owl.  "  Perhaps  the  Squirrel,  who  knows  the 
copse  so  well,  will  go  and  fetch  him." 

"  I  really  do  not  know  where  he  lives,"  said  the 
Squirrel.  "  I  have  not  seen  him  lately,  and  I  am  afraid 
he  is  keeping  his  bed."  Then  the  Squirrel  whispered 


THE    COURTIERS.  167 

down  to  Bevis,  cc  That  is  not  all  true,  but  you  see  I 
am  obliged  not  to  know  too  much,  else  I  should  offend 
somebody  and  do  myself  no  good." 

"  Well,  then/'  said  the  Book,  who  had  just 
arrived,  "send  the  Mouse;  he  looks  as  if  he  wanted 
something  to  do." 

"  I  cannot  agree  to  that,"  said  the  Owl,  "  the 
Mouse  is  very  clever,  and  his  opinion  worthy  of 
attention ;  we  cannot  spare  him."  The  truth  was, 
the  Owl,  squinting  down,  had  seen  what  a  plump 
Mouse  it  was,  and  he  reflected  that  if  the  Weasel 
saw  him  he  would  never  rest  till  he  had  tasted  him, 
whereas  he  thought  he  should  like  to  meet  the  Mouse 
by  moonlight  shortly.  "  Upon  the  whole,  I  really 
don't  know  that  we  need  send  for  the  Weasel,"  he 
went  on ;  thinking  that  if  the  Weasel  came  he  would 
fasten  his  affections  upon  the  Mouse. 

"But  I  do,"  said  the  Stoat. 

"  And  so  do  I,"  said  the  Fox. 

"  And  I,"  said  Kauc,  the  crow ;  settling  down  on 
a  branch  of  the  pollard. 

"  For  my  part,"  said  Cloctaw,  the  old  jackdaw, 
taking  his  seat  on  a  branch  of  horse-chestnut,  "I 
think  it  very  disrespectful  of  the  Weasel." 


1  68  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"True/'  said  the  wood-pigeon.  "True-whoo," 
as  he  settled  on  the  ash. 

"  Quite  true-oo,"  repeated  the  dove ;  perching  in 
the  hawthorn. 

"  Send  for  the  Weasel,  then/'  said  a  missel-thrush, 
also  perching  in  the  hawthorn.  "Why  all  this 
delay?  I  am  for  action.  Send  for  the  Weasel 
immediately." 

"  Really,  gentlemen/'  said  the  Mouse,  not  at  all 
liking  the  prospect  of  a  private  interview  with  the 
Weasel,  "  you  must  remember  that  I  have  had  a  long 
journey  here,  and  I  am  not  quite  sure  where  the 
Weasel  lives  at  present." 

"  The  council  is  not  complete  without  the  Weasel," 
screamed  a  Jay,  coming  up;  he  was  in  a  terrible 
temper,  for  the  lady  jay  whom  Kapchack  was  in  love 
with  had  promised  him  her  hand,  till  the  opportunity 
of  so  much  grandeur  turned  her  head,  and  she  jilted 
him  like  a  true  daughter  of  the  family,  as  she  was. 
For  the  jays  are  famous  for  jilting  their  lovers.  "  If 
the  Mouse  is  afraid,"  said  the  Jay,  "I'll  fetch  the 
Humble-bee  back,  and  if  he  wont  come  I  '11  speak  a 
word  to  my  friend  the  shrike,  and  have  him  spitted 
on  a  thorn  in  a  minute."  Off  he  flew,  and  the 


THE     COURTIERS.  169 

Humble-bee,    dreadfully     frightened,    came    buzzing 
back  directly. 

"  It  falls  upon  you,  as  the  oldest  of  the  party,  to 
give  him  his  commands,"  said  Tchink,  the  chaf- 
finch, addressing  the  Owl.  The  Owl  looked  at  the 
Crow,  and  the  Crow  scowled  at  the  chaffinch,  who 
turned  his  back  on  him,  being  veiy  saucy.  He  had 
watched  his  opportunity  while  the  Crow  went  round 
the  copse  to  drive  away  the  small  birds,  and  slipped 
in  to  appear  at  the  council.  He  was  determined  to 
assert  his  presence,  and  take  as  much  part  as  the 
others  in  these  important  events.  If  the  goldfinches, 
and  the  thrushes,  and  blackbirds,  and  robins,  and 
greenfinches,  and  sparrows,  and  so  on,  were  so  meek 
as  to  submit  to  be  excluded,  and  were  content  to  have 
no  voice  in  the  matter  till  they  were  called  upon  to 
obey  orders,  that  was  their  affair.  They  were  a  bevy 
of  poor-spirited,  mean  things.  He  was  not  going 
to  be  put  down  like  that.  Tchink  was,  indeed, 
a  very  impudent  fellow :  Bevis  liked  him  directly, 
and  determined  to  have  a  chat  with  him  by-and- 

ty 

"  If  I  am  the  oldest   of  the  party,  it  is  scarcely 
competent  for  you   to  say  so,"    said   the   Owl   with 


170  WOOD    MAGIC. 

great  dignity,  opening  his  eyes  to  their  full  extent, 
and  glaring  at  Tchink. 

"  All  right,  old  spectacles,"  said  Tchink,  "you're 
not  a  bad  sort  of  fellow  by  daylight,  though  I  have 
heard  tales  of  your  not  behaving  quite  so  properly  at 
night."  Then  catching  sight  of  Bevis  (for  Tchink 
was  very  quick)  he  flew  over  and  settled  near  the 
Squirrel,  intending,  if  any  violence  was  offered  to  him, 
to  ask  Bevis  for  protection. 

The  Owl,  seeing  the  Fox  tittering,  and  the 
Crow  secretly  pleased  at  this  remark,  thought  it  best 
to  take  no  notice,  but  ordered  the  Humble-bee,  in  the 
name  of  the  council,  to  at  once  proceed  to  the  Weasel, 
and  inform  him  that  the  council  was  unable  to  accept 
his  excuses,  but  was  waiting  his  arrival. 

"Is  Tchack-tchack  coming?"  asked  the  Mouse, 
recovering  his  spirits  now. 

"  I  too-whoo  should  like  to  know  if  Tchack-tchack 
is  coming,"  said  the  wood-pigeon. 

"  And  I  so,  too-oo,"  added  the  dove.      "  It  seems 
to   me  a   most   important  matter." 

"  In  my  opinion,"  said  Cloctaw,  speaking  rather 
huskily,  for  he  was  very  old,  "  Tchack-tchack  will  not 
come.  I  know  him  well — I  can  see  through  him — 


THE    COURTIERS.  171 

he  is  a  double-faced  rascal  like — like  (he  was  going 
to  say  the  Fox,  but  recollected  himself  in  time)  his 
— well,  never  matter ;  like  all  his  race  then.  My 
opinion  is  he  started  the  rumour  that  he  was  coming 
just  to  get  us  together,  and  encourage  us  to  conspire 
against  his  father,  in  the  belief  that  the  heir  was 
with  us  and  approved  of  our  proceedings.  But  he 
never  really  meant  to  come/' 

"  The  jackdaw  is  very  old/'  said  the  Crow,  with 
a  sneer.  "  He  is  not  what  he  used  to  be,  gentlemen  ; 
you  must  make  allowance  for  his  infirmities/' 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  the  missel-thrush,  in- 
terrupting, "  that  we  are  wasting  a  great  deal  of  time. 
I  propose  that  we  at  once  begin  the '  discussion, 
and  then  if  the  Weasel  and  Tchack-tchack  come  they 
can  join  in.  I  regret  to  say  that  my  kinsman,  the 
missel-thrush,  who  frequents  the  orchard  (by  special 
permission  of  Kapchack,  as  you  know)  is  not  here. 
The  pampered  fawning  wretch !  —  I  hate  such 
favourites — they  disgrace  a  court.  Why  all  the  rest 
of  our  family  are  driven  forth  like  rogues,  and  are 
not  permitted  to  come  near !  If  the  tyrant  kills  his 
children  in  his  wanton  freaks  even  then  this  minion 
remains  loyal :  despicable  being  !  But  now  without 


172  WOOD     MAGIC. 

further  delay  let  us  ask  the  Owl  to  state  the  case 
plainly,  so  that  we  can  all  understand  what  we  are 
talking  about/' 

"Hear,  hear/'  said  Tchink. 

"  I  agree  too,"  said  the  wood-pigeon. 

"  I  too,"  said  the  dove. 

"  It  is  no  use  waiting  for  Tchack-tchack,"  said 
the  Hawk. 

"  Hum  !  haw  !  caw  !  "  said  the  Rook,  "  I  do  not 
know  about  that." 

"  Let  us  go  on  to  business,"  said  the  Stoat,  "the 
Weasel  knows  no  more  than  we  do.  His  reputation 
is  much  greater  than  he  deserves." 

"I  have  heard  the  same  thing,"  said  the  Fox. 
"  Indeed  I  think  so  myself." 

"  I  am  sure  the  Owl  will  put  the  case  quite 
fairly,"  said  the  Mouse,  much  pleased  that  the  Owl 
had  saved  him  from  carrying  the  message  to  the 
Weasel. 

"  We  are  all  waiting,  Owl,"  said  Tchink. 

"  We,  indeed,"  said  the  Hawk,  very  sharply. 

"Hush!  hush!"  said  the  Squirrel.  "This  is  a 
privileged  place,  gentlemen ;  no  personal  remarks,  if 
you  please." 


THE     COURTIERS.  173 

"  I  think,  think,  the  Owl  is  very  stupid  not  to 
begin,"  said  the  Chaffinch. 

"If  you  please,"  said  the  Fox,  bowing  most 
politely  to  the  Owl,  "  we  are  listening." 

"  Well  then,  gentlemen,  since  you  all  wish  it," 
said  the  Owl,  ruffling  out  his  frills  and  swelling  up 
his  feathers,  "  since  you  all  wish  it,  I  will  endeavour 
to  put  the  case  as  plainly  as  possible,  and  in  as 
few  words  as  I  can.  You  must  understand,  gentle- 
men, indeed  you  all  understand  already,  that  from  time 
immemorial,  ever  since  the  oak  bore  acorns,  and  the 
bramble  blackberries,  it  has  been  the  established  cus- 
tom for  each  particular  bird  and  each  particular 
animal  to  fall  in  love  with,  and  to  marry  some  other 
bird  or  animal  of  the  same  kind. 

"To  explain  more  fully,  so  that  there  cannot  by 
any  possibility  be  the  least  chance  of  any  one  mis- 
taking my  meaning,  I  should  illustrate  the  position 
in  this  way,  that  it  has  always  been  the  invariable 
custom  for  owls  to  marry  owls;  for  crows  to  marry 
crows  ;  for  rooks  to  fall  in  love  with  rooks  ;  for  wood- 
pigeons  to  woo  wood-pigeons ;  doves  to  love  doves ; 
missel-thrushes  to  court  lady  missel-thrushes;  jack- 
daws, jackdaws;  hawks,  hawks;  rats,  rats;  foxes, 


1 74  WOOD    MAGIC. 

foxes;  stoats,  stoats;  weasels,  weasels;  squirrels, 
squirrels  ;  for  jays,  to  marry  jays  ('  Just  so/  screamed 
the  Jay) ;  and  mag-pies  to  marry  mag-pies." 

"And  chaffinches  to  kiss  chaffinches,"  added 
Tchink;  determined  not  to  be  left  out. 

"  This  custom,"  continued  the  Owl,  "  has  now 
existed  so  long-,  that  upon  looking  into  the  ar- 
chives of  my  house,  and  turning  over  the  dusty  re- 
cords, not  without  inconvenience  to  myself,  I  can't 
discover  one  single  instance  of  a  departure  from  it 
since  history  began.  There  is  no  record,  gentlemen, 
of  any  such  event  having  taken  place.  I  may  say, 
without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  no  precedent 
exists.  We  may,  therefore,  regard  it  as  a  fixed 
principle  of  common  law,  from  which  no  departure 
can  be  legal,  without  the  special  and  express  sanc- 
tion of  all  the  nation,  or  of  its  representatives 
assembled.  We  may  even  go  farther,  and  hazard 
the  opinion,  not  without  some  authority,  that  even 
with  such  sanction,  such  departure  from  constitutional 
usage  could  not  be  sustained  were  an  appeal  to  be 
lodged. 

"  Even  the  high  court  of  representatives  of 
all  the  nation,  assembled  in  the  fulness  of  their 


THE    COURTIERS.  175 

power,  could  not  legalise  what  is  in  itself  and 
of  its  own  nature,  illegal.  Customs  of  this  kind, 
which  are  founded  upon  the  innate  sense  and  feeling 
of  every  individual,  cannot,  in  short,  be  abolished 
by  Act  of  Parliament.  Upon  this  all  the  authorities 
I  have  consulted  are  perfectly  agreed.  What  has 
grown  up  during  the  process  of  so  many  genera- 
tions, cannot  be  now  put  on  one  side.  This,  gentle- 
men, is  rather  an  abstruse  part  of  the  question, 
being  one  which  recommends  itself  for  considera- 
tion to  the  purely  legal  intellect.  It  is  a  matter, 
too,  of  high  state  policy  which  rises  above  the 
knowledge  of  the  common  herd.  We  may  take  it 
for  granted,  and  pass  on  from  the  general  to  the 
special  aspect  of  this  most  remarkable  case. 

"  What  do  we  see  ?  We  see  a  proposed  alliance 
between  an  august  magpie  and  a  beautiful  jay. 
Now  we  know  by  experience  that  what  the  palace 
does  one  day,  the  world  at  large  will  do  to-morrow. 
It  is  the  instinct  of  nature  to  follow  the  example 
of  those  set  so  high  above  us.  We  may  there- 
fore conclude,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  this 
alliance  will  be  followed  by  others  equally  opposed 
to  tradition.  We  shall  have  hundreds  of  other 


176  WOOD    MAGIC. 

equally  ill-assorted  unions.  If  it  could  be  confined 
to  this  one  instance,  a  dispensation  might  doubtless 
be  arranged.  I,  for  one,  should  not  oppose  it.  ('I 
hate  you!'  shouted  the  Jay.)  But  no  one  can  for 
a  moment  shut  his  eye  to  what  must  happen. 
We  shall  have,  as  I  before  remarked,  hundreds  of 
these  ill-assorted  unions. 

"  Now  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  the  unhappy 
state  of  affairs  which  would  thus  be  caused :  the 
family  jars,  the  shock  to  your  feelings,  the  pain 
that  must  be  inflicted  upon  loving  hearts.  With 
that  I  have  nothing  to  do.  It  may  safely  be  left 
to  your  imagination.  But  what  I,  as  a  statesman 
and  a  lawyer,  have  to  deal  with,  is  the  legal,  that  is 
the  common  sense  view  of  the  situation,  and  my 
first  question  is  this  :  I  ask  myself,  and  I  beg 
you,  each  of  you,  to  ask  yourselves — I  ask  myself 
what  effect  would  these  ill-assorted  unions  produce 
upon  the  inheritance  of  property?" 

"  True — whoo  !  "    said  the  wood-pigeon. 

"  Hum  !  Haw  ! "    said  the  Rook. 

"  Law-daw  !  "   said  Cloctaw. 

"Very  important,  very!"  said  the  Fox.    "The  sacred 
laws  of  property  cannot  with  safety  be  interfered  with." 


THE    COUKTIERS.  177 

"  No  intrusion  can  be  thought  of  for  a  moment," 
said  the  Stoat. 

"  Most  absurd  ! "   said  the  Jay. 

"The  very  point!"  said  the  missel-thrush. 

"  Very  clear,  indeed  !  "  said  the  Mouse ;    "  I  am 
sure  the  Rat  will  echo  the  sentiment." 

"  Every  one  will  agree  with  you,"  said  Ki  Ki,  the 
Hawk. 

"I  think  the  same,"  said  the  chaffinch. 

"The  question  is  undoubtedly  very  important," 
continued  the  Owl,  when  the  buzz  had  subsided, 
and  much  pleased  at  the  sensation  he  had  caused. 
"  You  all  agree  that  the  question  is  not  one  to 
be  lightly  decided  or  passed  over.  In  order  to  fully 
estimate  the  threatened  alteration  in  our  present 
system,  let  us  for  a  moment  survey  the  existing 
condition  of  affairs.  I,  myself,  to  begin  with,  I 
and  my  ancestors,  for  many  generations,  have  held 
undisputed  possession  of  this  pollard.  Not  the 
slightest  flaw  has  ever  been  discovered  in  our  title- 
deeds  ;  and  no  claimant  has  ever  arisen.  The  Rook 
has  had,  I  believe,  once  or  twice  some  little  diffi- 
culty respecting  his  own  particular  tenancy,  which 
is  not  a  freehold  ;  but  his  townsmen,  as  a  body, 

M 


178  WOOD    MAGIC. 

possess  their  trees  in  peace.  The  Crow  holds  an 
oak ;  the  wood-pigeon  has  an  ash  ;  the  missel-thrush 
a  birch  ;  our  respected  friend  the  Fox  here,  has  a 
burrow  which  he  inherited  from  a  deceased  rabbit, 
and  he  has  also  contingent  claims  on  the  withey- 
bed,  and  other  property  in  the  country;  the  Stoat 
has  a  charter  of  free  warren." 

"  And  I  have  an  elm,"  said  Tchink,  "  let  any- 
body come  near  it,  that's  all." 

"The  Squirrel,"  continued  the  Owl,  "has  an 
acknowledged  authority  over  this  copse ;  and  the  Jay 
has  three  or  four  firs  of  his  own." 

"  And  St.  Paul  belongs  to  me,"  said  Cloctaw,  the 
jackdaw. 

"Well,  now,"  said  the  Owl,  raising  his  voice 
and  overpowering  the  husky  Cloctaw,  "  about  these 
various  properties  little  or  no  dispute  can  take 
place ;  the  son  succeeds  to  the  father,  and  the 
nephew  to  the  uncle.  Occasional  litigation,  of  course, 
occurs,  which  I  have  often  had  the  pleasure  of  con- 
ducting 10  an  amicable  and  satisfactory  termination. 
But,  upon  the  whole,  there  is  very  little  difficulty ; 
and  the  principle  of  inheritance  is  accepted  by  all. 
lour  approval,  indeed,  has  just  been  signified  in  the 


THE    COURTIERS.  179 

most  unanimous  manner.  But  what  shall  we  see  if 
the  example  set  by  the  palace  spreads  among  society  ? 
The  ash  at  the  present  moment  is  owned  by  the 
wood-pigeon;  were  the  wood-pigeon's  heir  to  marry 
the  missel-thrush's  heiress,  just  imagine  the  con- 
flicting claims  which  would  arise  ? 

"  The  family  would  be  divided  amongst  itself ;  all 
the  relations  upon  the  paternal  side,  and  the  relations 
upon  the  maternal  side,  would  join  the  contest,  and 
peace  would  be  utterly  at  an  end.  And  so  in  all 
other  instances.  The  crow  would  no  longer  have  a  fee- 
simple  of  the  oak,  the  jackdaw  of  the  steeple,  the 
rook  of  the  elm,  the  fox  of  the  burrow,  or  I  of 
my  pollard.  We  might  even  see  the  rook  claiming 
the —  But  I  will  not  follow  the  illustration  farther, 
lest  I  be  charged  with  descending  to  personalities. 
I  will  only  add,  in  conclusion,  that  if  this  ill-fated 
union  takes  place,  we  must  look  forward  to  seeing 
every  home  broken  up,  our  private  settlements,  our 
laws  of  hereditary  succession  set  upon  one  side,  our 
property  divided  among  a  miscellaneous  horde  of 
people,  who  will  not  know  their  own  grandfathers, 
and  our  most  cherished  sentiments  cast  to  the  winds 

of  heaven."     With  which  words  the  Owl  concluded, 

M  2 


180  WOOD    MAGIC. 

and  was  greeted  with  marks  of  approval  from  all 
parts  of  the  circle. 

"We  are  all  very  much  indebted  to  the  Owl," 
said  the  Fox,  "for  putting  the  true  aspect  of  the 
case  so  clearly  before  us.  His  learned  discourse — 
not  more  learned  than  lucid — has  convinced  us  all  of 
the  extreme  inexpediency  of  this  alliance." 

"  If  this  course  is  persisted  in,"  said  the  Crow, 
"  it  can  only  end,  in  my  opinion,  in  a  way  disastrous 
to  the  state.  The  king  cannot  decline  to  listen  to 
our  representations,  if  we  are  united." 

"  Haw !  "  said  the  Rook  ;  "  I'm  not  so  sure  of 
that.  Kapchack  likes  his  own  way." 

"  Kapchack  is  very  self-willed,"  said  the  Hawk. 
"  It  is  almost  our  turn  to  have  our  way  once  now." 

"  So  I  should  say,"  screamed  the  Jay ;  who  could 
never  open  his  beak  without  getting  into  a  temper. 
"  So  I  should  say ;  Kapchack  is  a  wicked  old — 

"  Hush,  hush,"  said  the  Squirrel ;  "  you  can't 
tell  who  may  be  listening." 

"  I  don't  care,"  said  the  Jay,  ruffling  up  his 
feathers ;  "  Kapchack  is  a  wicked  old  fellow,  and 
Tchack-tchack  is  as  bad." 

"Capital!"  said  Tchink,  the  chaffinch;    "I  like 


THE     COUKTIERS.  181 

outspoken  people.  But  I  have  heard  that  you  (to 
the  Jay)  are  very  fond  of  flirting."  At  this  there 
would  have  been  a  disturbance,  had  not  the  Fox 
interfered. 

"We  shall  never  do  anything,  unless  we  agree 
amongst  ourselves/'  he  said.  "Now,  the  question  is, 
are  we  going  to  do  anything?" 

"Yes,  that  is  it,"  said  the  missel-thrush,  who 
hated  talking,  and  liked  to  be  doing;  "what  is  it 
we  are  going  to  do  ?  " 

"  Something  must  be  done/'  said  the  Owl,  very 
solemnly. 

"  Yes ;  something  must  be  done/'  said  Cloctaw. 

"  Something  must  be  done/'  said  Ki  Ki. 

"I  think,  think  so,"  said  Tchink. 

"  I,  too/'  said  the  dove. 

"  Quite  true,"  said  the  wood-pigeon. 

"Something  must  be  done,"  said  the  Stoat. 

"  Let  us  tell  Kapchack  what  we  think,"  said  the 
Mouse,  getting  bold,  as  he  was  not  eaten. 

"A  good  idea,"  said  the  Crow;  "a  very  good 
idea.  We  will  send  the  Mouse  with  a  message." 

"  Dear  me  !  No,  no,"  cried  the  Mouse,  terribly 
frightened ;  "  Kapchack  is  awful  in  a  rage — my  life 


182  WOOD    MAGIC. 

would  not  be  worth  a  minute's  purchase.  Let  the 
Stoat  go." 

"Not  I,"  said  the  Stoat;  "  I  have  had  to  suffer 
enough  already,  on  account  of  my  relation  to  that 
rascal  the  Weasel,  whom  Kapchack  suspects  of  de- 
signs upon  his  throne.  I  will  not  go." 

"  Nor  I,"  said  the  Fox ;  "  Kapchack  has  looked 
angrily  at  me  for  a  long  time — he  cannot  forget  my 
royal  descent.  Let  the  Hawk  go." 

"I !  I!"  said  Ki  Ki.  "Nonsense;  Kapchack  does 
not  much  like  me  now ;  he  gave  me  a  hint  the  other 
day  not  to  soar  too  high.  I  suppose  he  did  not  like 
to  think  of  my  overlooking  him  kissing  pretty 
La  Schach." 

"  Wretch  !  horrid  wretch ! "  screamed  the  Jay, 
at  the  mention  of  the  kissing,  in  a  paroxysm  of 
jealousy.  "  Pecking  is  too  good  for  him  ! " 

"  Send  the  Jackdaw  or  the  Crow,"  said  Ki  Ki. 

"  No,  no,"  said  Kauc  and  Cloctaw  together. 
"  Try  the  wood-pigeon." 

"I  go? — whoo,"  said  the  pigeon.  "Impossible. 
Kapchack  told  me  to  my  face  the  other  day  that  he 
more  than  half  suspected  me  of  plotting  to  go  over 
to  Choo  Hoo.  I  dare  not  say  such  a  thing  to  him." 


THE     COU11TIERS.  183 

"  Nor  I,"  said  the  dove.     "  Why  not  the  Owl  ?" 

"  The  fact  is/'  said  the  Owl,  "  my  relations  with 
Kapchack  are  of  a  peculiar  and  delicate  nature. 
Although  I  occupy  the  position  of  a  trusted  counsellor, 
and  have  the  honour  to  be  chief  secretary  of  state, 
that  very  position  forbids  my  taking  liberties,  and  it 
is  clear  if  I  did,  and  were  in  consequence  banished 
from  the  court,  that  I  could  not  plead  your  cause. 
Now,  the  Rat " 

"  I  am  sure  the  Rat  will  not  go,"  said  the  Mouse. 
"My  friend  the  Rat  is  very  particularly  engaged, 
and  could  not  possibly  stir  from  home  at  this  juncture. 
There  is  the  missel-thrush." 

"Ridiculous,"  said  the  missel-thrush.  "Every- 
body knows  I  had  to  leave  my  hawthorn-tree  because 
Prince  Tchack-tchack  took  a  fancy  to  it.  He  would 
very  likely  accuse  me  to  his  father  of  high  treason, 
for  he  hates  me  more  than  poison  ever  since  he 
did  me  that  injury,  and  would  lose  no  chance  of 
compassing  my  destruction.  Besides  which  my 
relative — the  favourite — would  effectually  prevent 
me  from  obtaining  an  audience.  Now,  there's  the 
Squirrel." 

"  My  dear  sir,"  said  the  Squirrel,  "it  is  well  known 


184  WOOD    MAGIC. 

I  never  meddle  with  politics.  I  am  most  happy  to 
see  you  all  here,  and  you  can  have  the  use  of  my 
copse  at  any  time,  and  I  may  say  further  that  I 
sympathise  with  your  views  in  a  general  way. 
But  on  no  account  could  I  depart  from  my 
principles." 

"  His  principles,"  muttered  the  Crow,  always  a 
cynical  fellow.  "  His  principles  are  his  own  beech- 
trees.  If  anybody  touched  them  he  would  not  object 
to  politics  then." 

"  This  is  rather  awkward,"  said  the  Owl.  "  There 
seems  an  embarrassment  on  the  part  of  all  of  us, 
and  we  must  own  that  to  venture  into  the  presence 
of  a  despotic  monarch  with  such  unpleasant  advice 
requires  no  slight  courage.  Now,  I  propose  that 
since  the  Weasel  has  attained  so  high  a  reputation 
for  address,  that  he  be  called  upon  to  deliver  our 
message." 

"Hear,  hear,"  said  the  Fox. 

"  Hear,  hear,"  said  the  Stoat. 

"Capital,"  said  the  Chaffinch.  "Old  Spectacles 
can  always  see  a  way  out  of  a  difficulty." 

"Haw!  "said  the  Rook.  "I'm  doubtful.  Perhaps 
the  Weasel  will  not  see  it  in  this  light." 


THE     COURTIEES.  185 

"  Buzz/'  said  the  Humble-bee,  just  then  returning. 
"  Gentlemen,  1  have  seen  the  Weasel.  His  lordship 
was  lying  on  a  bank  in  the  sun — he  is  very  ill  indeed. 
His  limbs  are  almost  powerless ;  he  has  taken  a  chill 
from  sleeping  in  a  damp  hole.  He  sends  his  humble 
apology,  and  regrets  he  cannot  move.  I  left  him 
licking  his  helpless  paw.  Buzz,  buzz." 

"  Hark  !  hark  ! "  said  the  Woodpecker ;  bursting 
into  the  circle  with  such  a  shout  and  clatter  that  the 
dove  flew  a  little  way  in  alarm.  "  Kapchack  is 
waking  up.  I  have  been  watching  all  the  time  to 
let  you  know.  And  there  is  no  chance  of  Prince 
Tchack-tchack  coming,  for-  he  told  me  that  Kapchack 
ordered  him  not  to  leave  the  orchard  while  he  was 
asleep." 

"  I  do  not  believe  it,"  said  the  Jay.  "  He  is  a 
false  scoundrel,  and  I  dare  say  Kapchack  never  gave 
any  such  order,  and  never  thought  about  it.  How- 
ever, there  is  no  help  for  it,  we  must  break  up  this 
meeting,  or  we  shall  be  missed.  But  it  is  clear  that 
something  must  be  done." 

"  Something  must  be  done,"  said  the  wood-pigeon, 
as  he  flew  off. 

"Something  must  be  done,"  repeated  the  dove. 


186  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"  Something  must  be  done/'  said  the  Owl,  as  he 
went  down  into  the  pollard  to  sleep  the  rest  of  the 
day.  Off  went  the  Mouse  as  fast  as  he  could  go, 
anxious  to  get  away  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Weasel.  The  missel-thrush  had  started  directly  he 
heard  what  the  Woodpecker  said,  disgusted  that  there 
was  no  action,  and  nothing  but  talk.  The  Jay  went 
off  with  the  Hawk,  remarking  as  he  went  that  he 
had  expected  better  things  of  the  Fox,  whose  royal 
ancestors  had  so  great  a  reputation,  and  could  contrive 
a  scheme  to  achieve  anything,  while  their  ignoble 
descendant  was  so  quiet,  and  scarce  spoke  a  word. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  Weasel  would  soon  outdo  him 
altogether.  The  Rook  flew  straight  away  to  the  flock 
to  which  he  belonged,  to  tell  them  all  that  had  been 
said.  The  Chaffinch  left  at  the  same  time ;  the  Fox 
and  the  Stoat  went  away  together ;  the  Crow  and  the 
Jackdaw  accompanied  each  other  a  little  way.  When 
they  had  gone  a  short  distance  the  Crow  said  he 
wanted  to  say  something  very  particular,  so  they 
perched  together  on  a  lonely  branch. 

"What  is  it?"   said  Cloctaw. 

"The  fact  is,"  said  the  Crow,  "my  belief  is— 
come  a  little  nearer — my  belief  is  that  Kapchack's 


THE    COURTIERS.  187 

reign  is  coming  to  an  end.     People  won't  put  up  with 
this." 

"  Ah/'  said  the  Jackdaw,  "  if  that  is  the  case 
who  is  to  be  king  ?  " 

"  Well/'  said  the  Crow,  "  let  me  whisper  to  you ; 
come  a  little  nearer."  He  hopped  towards  Cloctaw. 
Cloctaw  hopped  the  other  way.  The  Crow  hopped 
towards  him  again,  till  Cloctaw  came  to  the  end  of 
the  branch,  and  could  go  no  further  without  flying, 
which  would  look  odd  under  the  circumstances.  So 
he  kept  a  very  sharp  eye  on  Kauc,  for  the  fact  was 
they  had  had  many  a  quarrel  when  they  were 
younger,  and  Cloctaw  was  not  at  all  sure  that  he 
should  not  have  a  beak  suddenly  driven  through  his 
head. 

"  The  truth  is,"  said  the  Crow,  in  a  hoarse 
whisper,  "there's  a  chance  for  you  and  me.  Can't 
you  see  the  Fox  is  very  stupid,  quite  abject,  and 
without  the  least  spirit ;  the  Stoat  is  very  fierce,  but 
has  no  mind ;  everybody  suspects  the  Weasel,  and 
will  not  trust  him;  as  for  the  Rat,  he  is  no 
favourite;  the  Hawk  is — well,  the  Hawk  is  dan- 
gerous, but  might  be  disposed  of  ((You  black 
assassin/  thought  Cloctaw  to  himself) ;  the  Rook  has 


188  WOOD    MAGIC. 

not  a  chance,  for  his  friends  would  be  too  jealous 
to  let  one  of  their  number  become  a  king;  and  for 
the  rest,  they  are  too  weak.  There's  only  you  and 
me  left." 

"I  see/'  said  Cloctaw;  "but  we  could  not  both 
be  king." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  said  the  Crow ;  "  you  wear  the 
crown  and  live  in  the  palace;  you  are  old,  and  it 
would  be  nice  and  comfortable;  you  have  all  the 
state  and  dignity,  and  I  will  do  the  work." 

"It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  propose  it,"  said 
Cloctaw,  as  if  considering.  In  his  heart  he  thought, 
"  Oh,  yes,  very  convenient  indeed ;  I  am  to  wear 
the  crown,  and  be  pecked  at  by  everybody,  and  you 
to  do  all  the  work — that  is,  to  go  about  and  collect 
the  revenue,  and  be  rich,  and  have  all  the  power, 
while  I  have  all  the  danger." 

"  It  is  quite  feasible,  I  am  sure,"  said  the  Crow ; 
"  especially  if  Prince  Tchack-tchack  continues  his 
undutiful  course,  and  if  Choo  Hoo  should  come  up 
with  his  army." 

"I  must  think  about  it,"  said  Cloctaw;  "  we  must 
not  be  too  hasty." 

"  Oh,  dear  no,"  said  the  Crow,  delighted  to  have 


THE    COURTIERS.  189 

won  over  one  important  politician  to  his  cause  so 
easily ;  "we  must  wait  and  watch  events.  Of  course 
this  little  conversation  is  quite  private?" 

"  Perfectly  private/'  said  Cloctaw ;  and  they 
parted. 

The  Crow  had  an  appointment,  and  Cloctaw  flew 
direct  to  the  steeple.  His  nest  was  in  the  highest 
niche,  just  behind  the  image  of  St.  Paul ;  and  it  was 
not  only  the  highest,  but  the  safest  from  intrusion, 
for  there  was  no  window  near,  and  on  account  of 
some  projections  below,  even  a  ladder  could  not  be 
put  up,  so  that  it  was  quite  inaccessible  without 
scaffolding.  This  niche  he  discovered  in  his  hot 
youth,  when  he  won  renown  by  his  strength  and 
courage  :  he  chose  it  for  his  home,  and  defended  it 
against  all  comers.  He  was  now  old  and  feeble,  but 
his  reputation  as  a  leading  politician,  and  his  in- 
fluence at  the  court  of  king  Kapchack  was  too  great 
for  any  to  think  of  ousting  him  by  force. 

But  the  members  of  his  family,  in  their  extreme 
solicitude  for  his  personal  safety,  frequently  repre- 
sented to  him  the  danger  he  incurred  in  ascending 
so  high.  Should  a  wing  fail  him,  how  terrible  the 
consequences !  more  especially  for  the  race  of  which 


190  WOOD     MAGIC. 

he  was  so  distinguished  an  ornament.  Nor  was  there 
the  least  reason  for  his  labouring  to  that  elevation; 
with  his  reputation  and  influence,  none  would  dare 
to  meddle  with  him.  There  were  many  pleasant 
places  not  so  exposed,  as  the  gurgoyle,  the  leads,  the 
angle  of  the  roof,  where  he  could  rest  without  such 
an  effort ;  and  upon  their  part  they  would  willingly 
assist  him  by  collecting  twigs  for  a  new  nest. 

But  Cloctaw  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  these  kindly 
proposals,  and  could  not  be  made  to  see  the  advan- 
tages so  benevolently  suggested.  He  would  in  no 
degree  abate  his  dignity,  his  right,  power,  or  position. 
He  adhered  to  St.  Paul.  There  he  had  built  all  his 
days,  and  there  he  meant  to  stay  to  the  last,  for 
having  seen  so  much  of  the  world,  well  he  knew 
that  possession  is  ten  points  of  the  law,  and  well  he 
understood  the  envy  and  jealousy  which  dictated 
these  friendly  counsels. 

At  the  same  time,  as  the  Fox  and  the  Stoat 
were  going  though  the  fern,  the  Stoat  said,  "  It 
appears  to  me  that  this  is  a  very  favourable  oppor- 
tunity for  ruining  the  Weasel.  Could  we  not  make 
up  some  tale,  and  tell  Kapchack  how  the  Weasel 
asked  us  to  a  secret  meeting,  or  something  ?  " 


THE    COUETIERS.  191 

Now  the  Fox  had  his  own  ideas,  and  he  wanted 
to  get  rid  of  the  Stoat.  "  Another  time,"  he  said, 
"  another  time,  we  will  consider  of  it ;  but  why 
waste  such  a  capital  chance  as  you  have  to-day?" 

"  Capital  chance  to-day  ?  "  said  the  Stoat ;  "  what 
is  it  you  mean?" 

"Did  you  not  see  the  Mouse?"  said  the  Fox. 
"  Did  you  not  see  how  fat  he  was  ?  And  just  think, 
he  has  a  long  and  lonely  road  home ;  and  it  would 
be  very  easy  to  make  a  short  cut  (for  he  will  not 
leave  the  hedges  which  are  round  about),  and  get  in 
front  of,  and  so  intercept  him.  I  should  go  myself,  but 
I  was  out  last  night,  and  feel  tired  this  afternoon." 

"Oh,  thank  you,"  said  the  Stoat;  "I'll  run 
that  way  directly."  And  off  he  started,  thinking 
to  himself,  "  How  silly  the  Fox  has  got,  and  how 
much  he  has  fallen  off  from  the  ancient  wisdom 
for  which  his  ancestors  were  famous.  Why  ever 
did  he  not  hold  his  tongue,  and  I  should  never 
have  thought  of  the  Mouse,  and  the  Fox  could 
have  had  him  another  day  ? " 

But  the  fact  was  the  Fox  recollected  that  the 
Mouse  had  had  a  long  start,  and  it  was  very 
doubtful  if  the  Stoat  could  overtake  him,  and  if 


192  WOOD    MAGIC. 

he  did,  most  likely  the  Hat  would  come  to  meet 
his  friend,  and  the  Stoat  would  get  the  worst  of 
the  encounter. 

However  ill  the  Rat  served  the  Mouse,  how- 
ever much  he  abused  his  superior  strength,  wreak- 
ing his  temper  on  his  weaker  companion,  still  the 
Mouse  clung  to  him  all  the  more.  On  the  other 
hand  the  Rat,  ready  enough  to  injure  the  Mouse 
himself,  would  allow  no  one  else  (unless  with  his 
permission)  to  touch  his  follower,  wishing  to  reserve 
to  himself  a  monopoly  of  tyranny. 

So  soon  as  the  Stoat  was  out  of  sight,  the 
Fox  looked  round  to  see  that  no  one  was  near, 
and  he  said  to  a  fly,  "Fly,  will  you  carry  a  mes- 
sage for  me  ?  " 

"  I  am  very  busy,"  said  the  fly,  "  very  busy 
indeed." 

So  the  Fox  went  a  little  farther,  and  said  to 
a  humble-bee,  "  Humble-bee,  will  you  carry  a  mes- 
sage for  me  ?  " 

"  I  am  just  going  home/'  said  the  humble-bee, 
and  buzzed  along. 

So  the  Fox  went  a  little  farther,  and  said  to 
a  butterfly,  "Beautiful  butterfly,  will  you  carry  a 


THE    COURTIERS.  193 

message  for  me?"  But  the  disdainful  butterfly  did 
not  even  answer. 

The  Fox  went  a  little  farther,  and  met  a  tom- 
tit. "  Te-te,"  said  he,  addressing  the  tomtit  by 
name,  "  will  you  carry  a  message  for  me  ? " 

"  What  impudence  !  "  said  Te-te.  "  Mind  your 
own  business,  and  do  not  speak  to  gentlemen." 

"  I  see  how  it  is,"  said  the  Fox  to  himself, 
"  the  fortunes  of  my  family  are  fallen,  and  I  am 
disregarded.  When  we  were  rich,  and  had  a  great 
reputation,  and  were  the  first  of  all  the  people  in 
the  wood,  then  we  had  messengers  enough,  and 
they  flew  to  do  our  bidding.  But  now,  they  turn 
aside.  This  is  very  bitter.  When  I  get  home,  I 
must  curl  round  and  think  about  it  ;  I  cannot 
endure  this  state  of  things.  How  dreadful  it  is  to 
be  poor  !  I  wish  we  had  not  dissipated  our  wealth 
so  freely.  However,  there  is  a  little  left  still  in 
a  secret  corner.  As  I  said,  I  must  see  about  it. 
Here  is  a  gnat.  '  Gnat,  will  you  carry  a  message 
for  me?'" 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  the  gnat  ;  "  I 
must  think  about  it.  Will  to-morrow  do?" 

"No,"    said  the   Fox   quickly,    before  the   gnat 

N 


194  WOOD    MAGIC. 

flew  off.  "  Go  for  me  to  Kapchack,  and  say  there 
has  been  a  secret " 

"  A  secret  ? "  said  the  gnat ;  "  that's  another 
matter."  And  he  went  down  closer  to  the  Fox. 

"Yes,"  said  the  Fox,  "you  fly  as  fast  as  you 
can,  and  whisper  to  Kapchack — you  have  free  ad- 
mittance, I  know,  to  the  palace — that  there  has 
been  a  secret  meeting  in  the  copse  about  his  love 
affair,  and  that  the  courtiers  are  all  against  it,  and 
are  bent  on  his  destruction,  especially  the  Owl,  the 
Hawk,  the  Crow,  the  Rook,  the  Weasel  (the 
Weasel  worst  of  all,  for  they  would  have  chosen 
him  as  their  deputy),  the  Stoat,  and  the  Jackdaw, 
and  that  he  has  only  one  true  friend,  the  Fox,  who 
sends  the  message." 

"  All  right ! "  said  the  gnat  ;  "  all  right,  I'll 
go  ! "  And  off  he  flew,  delighted  to  be  entrusted 
with  so  great  a  secret. 

While  the  courtiers  were  thus  intriguing,  not 
only  against  Kapchack,  but  against  each  other,  Bevis 
and  the  Squirrel  went  back  into  the  raspberries,  and 
Bevis  helped  himself  to  the  fruit  that  had  ripened 
since  yesterday. 

"  It    seems   to   me,"    said    Bevis,    after    he   had 


THE    COURTIERS.  195 

eaten  as  much  as  he  could,  "that  they  are  all  very 
wicked." 

"  So  they  are,"  said  the  Squirrel.  "  I  am  sorry 
to  say  they  are  rather  treacherous,  and  I  warned 
you  not  to  believe  all  they  said  to  you.  I  would 
not  let  them  use  my  copse,  but  the  fact  is,  if 
they  are  wicked,  Kapchack  is  a  hundred  times  more 
so.  Besides,  it  is  very  hard  on  the  Jay,  who  is 
an  old  acquaintance  of  mine — we  often  have  a 
chat  in  the  fir-trees — to  have  his  dear,  sweet,  pretty 
lady  stolen  away  from  him  by  such  a  horrid  old 
wretch,  whose  riches  and  crown  have  quite  turned 
her  head  ! " 

"  What  a  business  it  all  is,"  said  Bevis.  "Every- 
body seems  mixed  up  in  it.  And  so  it  is  true  that 
Prince  Tchack-tchack  is  also  in  love  with  the  pretty 

jay?" 

' '  Yes,  that  it  is,"  said  the  Squirrel ;  "  and, 
between  you  and  me,  I  have  seen  her  flirt  with 
him  desperately,  in  that  very  hawthorn  bush  he 
forced  the  missel-thrush  to  give  up  to  him.  And 
that  is  the  reason  he  will  not  let  Kapchack  peck 
his  eye  out,  as  he  is  so  vain,  and  likes  to  look 

nice." 

N  2 


196  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"  Let  Kapchack  peck  his  eye  out !  But  Kap- 
ehack  is  his  father.  Surely  his  papa  would  not 
])eck  his  eye  out?" 

"  Oh,  dear  me ! "  said  the  Squirrel,  "  1  almost 
let  the  secret  out.  Goodness  !  I  hope  nobody  heard 
me.  And  pray  Bevis,  dear,  don't  repeat  it  —  oh, 
pray  don't ! — or  it  will  be  sure  to  be  traced  to 
me.  I  wish  I  had  never  heard  it.  If  I  had  not 
listened  to  that  vile  old  Crow ;  if  I  had  not  been 
so  curious,  and  overheard  him  muttering  to  himself, 
and  suggesting  doubts  at  night !  Bevis,  dear,  don't 
you  ever  be  curious,  and  don't  you  say  a  word." 

The  Squirrel  was  in  a  terrible  fright,  till  Bevis 
promised  not  to  repeat  anything. 

"But,"  said  he,  "you  have  not  told  me  the 
secret." 

"  No,"  said  the  Squirrel,  "  but  I  very  nearly  did, 
and  only  just  stopped  in  time.  Why,  if  the  trees 
heard  it,  they  would  pass  it  from  one  to  the  other 
in  a  moment.  Dear,  dear!"  He  sat  down,  he 
was  so  frightened  he  could  not  frisk  about.  But 
Bevis  stroked  him  down,  and  soothed  him,  and  said 
he  had  the  most  lovely  silky  tail  in  the  world, 
and  this  brought  him  to  himself  again. 


THE    COURTIERS.  197 

"  All  this  comes,"  said  the  Squirrel,  "  of  my  hav- 
ing run  up  the  wrong  side  of  the  tree  first  this 
morning.  Take  care,  Bevis  dear,  that  you  too  do 
not  make  a  mistake,  and  put  the  wrong  foot  first 
out  of  bed  when  you  get  up."  Bevis  laughed  at  this, 
and  asked  which  was  his  wrong  foot.  ff  Well,"  said 
the  Squirrel,  "  the  fact  is,  it  depends  :  sometimes  it  is 
one,  and  sometimes  it  is  the  other,  and  that  is  the 
difficulty,  to  know  which  it  is,  and  makes  all  the 
difference  in  life.  The  very  best  woman  I  ever  knew 
(and  she  was  a  farmer's  wife)  always,  when  she  was 
out  walking,  put  one  foot  before  the  other,  and  so 
was  always  right." 

"Nonsense,"  said  Bevis,  "how  could  she  walk 
without  putting  one  foot  before  the  other  ? " 

"Oh,  yes/'  said  the  Squirrel,  "many  people, 
though  they  think  they  put  one  foot  before  the 
other,  really  keep  the  wrong  foot  foremost  all  the 
time.  But  do  you  remember  to-morrow  morning 
when  you  get  up." 

"  I  do  not  see  what  difference  it  can  make,"  said 
Bevis. 

"  If  you  put  one  foot  out  first,"  said  the  Squirrel, 
"  it  will  very  likely  lead  you  to  the  looking-glass, 


198  WOOD    MAGIC. 

where  you  will  see  yourself  and  forget  all  the  rest, 
and  you  will  do  one  sort  of  thing-  that  day ;  and  if 
you  put  the  other  out  first  it  will  lead  you  to  the 
window,  and  then  you  will  see  something,  and  you 
will  think  about  that,  and  do  another  sort  of  thing; 
and  if  you  put  both  feet  out  of  bed  together  they  will 
take  you  to  the  door,  and  there  you  will  meet  some- 
body, who  will  say  something,  and  you  will  do 
another  kind  of  thing.  So  you  see  it  is  a  very  im- 
portant matter,  and  this  woman,  as  I  said,  was  the 
best  that  ever  lived." 

"  No  she  wasn't,"  said  Bevis,  "  she  was  not  half 
so  good  as  my  mother  is." 

"  That  is  true  dear,"  said  the  Squirrel,  "  your 
mother  is  the  very  best  of  all.  But  don't  forget 
about  your  feet  to-morrow  morning,  dear/' 

"  Look  up,"  said  Bevis,  "  and  tell  me  what  bird 
that  is." 

The  Squirrel  looked  up,  and  saw  a  bird  going  over 
at  a  great  height.  "  That  is  a  peewit,"  he  said.  "  He 
is  a  messenger ;  you  can  see  how  fast  and  straight 
he  is  flying.  He  is  bringing  some  news,  I  feel  sure, 
about  Choo  Hoo.  Kapchack  sent  an  out-post  of 
peewits  over  the  hills  to  watch  Choo  Hoo's  move- 


THE    COURTIERS.  199 

ments,  and  to  let  him  know  directly  if  he  began  to 
gather  his  army  together.  Depend  upon  it  dear,  there 
is  some  very  important  news.  I  must  tell  the  Wood- 
pecker, and  he  will  find  out;  he  is  very  clever  at 
that."  The  Squirrel  began  to  get  restless,  though 
he  did  not  like  to  tell  Bevis  to  go. 

"You  promised  to  tell  me  about  Choo  Hoo," 
said  Bevis. 

"  So  I  did,"  said  the  Squirrel,  "  and  if  you  will 
come  to-morrow  I  will  do  so ;  I  am  rather  in  a  hurry 
just  now." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Bevis,  "  I  will  come  to-morrow. 
Now  show  me  the  way  to  the  felled  tree."  As 
they  were  going  Bevis  recollected  the  Weasel,  and 
asked  if  he  was  really  so  ill  he  could  not  move, 
but  was  obliged  to  lick  his  paw  to  cure  the 
pain. 

The  Squirrel  laughed.  "No,"  he  whispered, 
"  Don't  you  say  I  said  so  :  the  truth  is  the  Weasel 

«/  J 

is  as  well  as  you  or  I,  and  now  the  council  is  broken 
up  I  daresay  he  is  running  about  as  quickly  as  he 
likes.  And,  Bevis  dear,  stoop  down  and  I'll  tell  you 
(Bevis  stooped)  the  fact  is  he  was  at  the  council  all 
the  time." 


200  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"  But  I  never  saw  him,"  said  Bevis,  "  and  he 
never  said  anything." 

"  No,"  whispered  the  Squirrel  very  quietly,  ' f  he 
wanted  to  hear  what  they  said  without  being  pre- 
sent; he  was  in  the  elm  all  the  time;  you  know 
dear,  that  malice-minded  elm  on  the  other  side  of  the 
raspberries,  which  I  told  you  was  rotten  inside.  He 
lives  there  in  that  hole;  there  is  a  way  into  it 
level  with  the  ground ;  that  is  his  secret  hiding- 
place." 

"I  will  bring  my  cannon-stick  to-morrow,"  said 
Bevis,  delighted  to  have  discovered  where  the  Weasel 
lived  at  last,  "  and  I  will  shoot  into  the  hole  and  kill 
him." 

"I  could  not  let  you  do  that,"  said  the  Squirrel. 
"  I  do  not  allow  any  fighting,  or  killing,  in  my 
copse,  and  that  is  the  reason  all  the  birds  and 
animals  come  here  to  hold  their  meetings,  because 
they  know  it  is  a  sanctuary.  If  you  shoot  off  your 
cannon  the  birds  are  sure  to  hear  it,  and  you 
will  not  be  present  at  any  more  of  their  meetings, 
and  you  will  not  hear  any  more  of  the  story.  There- 
fore it  would  be  very  foolish  of  you  to  shoot  off 
your  cannon ;  you  must  wait,  Bevis  dear,  till  you  can 


THE     COURTIEKS.  201 

catch  the  Weasel  outside  my  copse,  and  then  you 
may  shoot  him  as  much  as  you  like." 

"  Very  well/'  said  Bevis,  rather  sulkily,  "  I  will 
not  shoot  him  in  the  hole  if  you  do  not  want  me 
to.  But  how  could  the  Weasel  have  been  in  the 
elm  all  the  time,  when  the  Humble-bee  said  he  found 
him  lying  in  the  sunshine  on  a  bank  licking  his 
paw?" 

"  Why,  of  course  he  told  the  Humble-bee  to  say 
that," 

"What  a  cheater  he  is,  isn't  he?"  said  Bevis. 
"  And  how  did  you  find  out  where  he  lived  ?  I  looked 
everywhere  for  him,  and  so  did  Pan — Pan  sniffed 
and  sniffed,  but  could  not  find  him." 

"Nor  could  I,"  said  the  Squirrel.  "After  you 
shot  the — I  mean  after  the  unfortunate  business 
with  the  thrush,  he  kept  out  of  the  way,  knowing 
that  you  had  vowed  vengeance  against  him,  and 
although  I  go  about  a  good  deal,  and  peep  into  so 
many  odd  corners,  I  could  not  discover  his  where- 
abouts, till  the  little  tree-climber  told  me.  You 
know  the  tree-climber,  dear,  you  have  seen  him  in 
your  orchard  at  home ;  he  goes  all  round  and  round 
the  trees,  and  listens  at  every  chink,  and  so  he  learns 


202  WOOD    MAGIC. 

almost  all  the  secrets.  He  heard  the  Weasel  in  the 
elm,  and  came  at  once  and  told  me.  Here  is  the 
timber,  and  there  is  the  dragon-fly.  Good  afternoon, 
Bevis  dear,  come  to-morrow,  and  you  shall  hear  the 
peewit's  news,  and  be  sure  and  not  forget  to  put  the 
right  foot  out  of  bed  first  in  the  morning."  Bevis 
kissed  his  hand  to  the  Squirrel,  and  went  home  with 
the  dragon-fly. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE    EMPEEOR   CHOO    HOO. 

WHEN  he  woke  next  morning-,  Bevis  quite  forgot 
what  the  Squirrel  had  told  him;  he  jumped  out  of  bed 
without  thinking,  and  his  right  foot  touched  the  floor 
first,  and  led  him  to  the  window.  From  the  window 
he  saw  the  Brook,  and  recollected  that  the  Brook  had 
promised  to  tell  him  what  he  was  singing,  so  as 
soon  as  ever  he  could  get  out  of  doors  away  he  went 
through  the  gateway  the  grasshopper  had  shown 
him,  and  down  to  the  hatch.  Instead  of  coming 
quietly  on  tip- toe,  as  the  Brook  had  told  him,  he 
danced  up,  and  the  kingfisher  heard  him,  and  went 
off  as  before,  whistling  "weep,  weep."  Bevis  stood 
on  the  brink  and  said,  "Brook,  Brook,  what  are  you 
singing?  You  promised  to  tell  me  what  you  were 
saying." 

The  Brook  did  not  answer,  but  went  on  singing. 
Bevis  listened  a  minute,  and  then  he  picked  a  willow 
leaf  and  threw  it  into  the  bubbles,  and  watched  it 


204  WOOD    MAGIC. 

go  whirling  round  and  round  in  the  eddies,  and 
back  up  under  the  fall,  where  it  dived  down,  and 
presently  came  up  again,  and  the  stream  took  it  and 
carried  it  away  past  the  flags.  "Brook,  Brook," 
said  Bevis,  stamping  his  foot,  "  tell  me  what  you 
are  singing." 

And  the  Brook,  having  now  finished  that  part  of 
his  song,  said,  "  Bevis  dear,  sit  down  in  the  shadow  of 
the  willow,  for  it  is  very  hot  to-day,  and  the  reapers 
are  at  work;  sit  down  under  the  willow,  and  I  will 
tell  you  as  much  as  I  can  remember." 

"But  the  Reed  said  you  could  not  remember 
anything/'  said  Bevis,  leaning  back  against  the 
willow. 

"  The  Reed  did  not  tell  you  the  truth,  dear ; 
indeed,  he  does  not  know  all ;  the  fact  is,  the  reeds 
are  so  fond  of  talking  that  I  scarcely  ever  answer 
them  now,  or  they  would  keep  on  all  day  long,  and 
I  should  never  hear  the  sound  of  my  own  voice,  which 
I  like  best.  So  I  do  not  encourage  them,  and  that 
is  why  the  reeds  think  I  do  not  recollect." 

"  And  what  is  it  that  you  sing  about  ? "  said 
Bevis,  impatiently. 

"  My  darling,"  said  the  Brook,  "  I  do  not  know 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  205 

myself  always  what  I  am  singing  about.  I  am  so 
happy  I  sing,  sing,  and  never  think  about  what  it 
means ;  it  does  not  matter  what  you  mean  as  long  as 
you  sing.  Sometimes  I  sing  about  the  sun,  who 
loves  me  dearly,  and  tries  all  day  to  get  at  me  through 
the  leaves  and  the  green  flags  that  hide  me;  he 
sparkles  on  me  everywhere  he  can,  and  does  not  like 
me  to  be  in  the  shadow.  Sometimes  I  sing  to  the 
Wind,  who  loves  me  next  most  dearly,  and  will  come 
to  me  everywhere,  in  places  where  the  sun  cannot  get. 
He  plays  with  me  whenever  he  can,  and  strokes  me 
softly,  and  tells  me  the  things  he  has  heard  in  the 
woods  and  on  the  hills,  and  sends  down  the  leaves 
to  float  along,  for  he  knows  I  like  something  to  carry. 
Fling  me  in  some  leaves,  Bevis,  dear. 

"  Sometimes  I  sing  to  the  earth  and  the  grass ; 
they  are  fond  of  me,  too,  and  listen  the  best  of  all. 
I  sing  loudest  at  night,  to  the  stars,  for  they  are  so 
far  away  they  would  not  otherwise  hear  me." 

"  But  what  do  you  say  ?  "  said  Bevis ;  but  the 
Brook  was  too  occupied  now  to  heed  him,  and  went 
on. 

"  Sometimes  I  sing  to  the  trees ;  they,  too,  are 
fond  of  me,  and  come  as  near  as  they  can;  they 


206  WOOD    MAGIC. 

would  all  come  down  close  to  me  if  they  could. 
They  love  me  like  the  rest,  because  I  am  so  happy, 
and  never  cease  my  chaunting.  If  I  am  broken  to 
pieces  against  a  stone,  I  do  not  mind  in  the  least; 
I  laugh  just  the  same,  and  even  louder.  When  I 
come  over  the  hatch,  I  dash  myself  to  fragments ; 
and  sometimes  a  rainbow  comes  and  stays  a  little 
while  with  me.  The  trees  drink  me,  and  the  grass 
drinks  me,  the  birds  come  down  and  drink  me ;  they 
splash  me,  and  are  happy.  The  fishes  swim  about, 
and  some  of  them  hide  in  deep  corners.  Round  the 
bend  I  go,  and  the  osiers  say  they  never  have  enough 
of  me.  The  long  grass  waves  and  welcomes  me; 
the  moorhens  float  with  me  ;  the  kingfisher  is  always 
with  me  somewhere,  and  sits  on  the  bough  to  see  his 
ruddy  breast  in  the  water.  And  you  come,  too, 
Bevis,  now  and  then  to  listen  to  me ;  and  it  is  all 
because  I  am  so  happy." 

"  Why  are  you  so  happy  ?  "  said  Bevis. 

"I  do  not  know,"  said  the  Brook.  "Perhaps  it 
is  because  all  I  think  of  is  this  minute ;  I  do  not 
know  anything  about  the  minute  just  gone  by,  and 
I  do  not  care  one  bit  about  the  minute  that  is  just 
coming;  all  I  care  about  is  this  minute,  this  very 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  207 

minute  now.  Fling  me  in  some  more  leaves,  Bevis. 
Why  do  you  go  about  asking  questions,  dear  ?  Why 
don't  you  sing,  and  do  nothing  else?" 

"  Oh,  but  I  want  to  know  all  about  everything/' 
said  Bevis.  "Where  did  you  come  from,  and  where 
are  you  going,  and  why  don't  you  go  on  and  let  the 
ground  be  dry — why  don't  you  run  on,  and  run  all 
away  ?  Why  are  you  always  here  ?  " 

The  Brook  laughed,  and  said,  "  My  dear,  I  do 
not  know  where  I  came  from,  and  I  do  not  care  at 
all  where  I  am  going.  What  does  it  matter,  my 
love  ?  All  I  know  is  I  shall  come  back  again ;  yes, 
I  shall  come  back  again."  The  Brook  sang  very 
low,  and  rather  sadly  now,  "  I  shall  go  into  the  sea, 
and  shall  be  lost ;  and  even  you  would  not  know 
me — ask  your  father,  love,  he  has  sailed  over  the 
sea  in  the  ships  that  come  to  Southampton,  and  1 
was  close  to  him,  but  he  did  not  know  me.  But 
by-and-by,  when  I  am  in  the  sea,  the  sun  will  lift 
me  up,  and  the  clouds  will  float  along — look  to- 
wards the  hills,  Bevis  dear,  every  morning,  and  you 
will  see  the  clouds  coming  and  bringing  me  with 
them ;  and  the  rain  and  the  dew,  and  sometimes  the 
thunder  and  the  lightning,  will  put  me  down  again, 


208  WOOD    MAGIC. 

and  I  shall  run  along  here  and  sing  to  you,  my  sweet, 
if  you  will  come  and  listen.  Fling  in  some  little 
twigs,  my  dear,  and  some  bits  of  bark  from  the 
tree." 

Then  the  Brook  sang  very  low  and  very  sad,  and 
said,  "I  shall  come  back  again,  Bevis;  I  always 
come  back,  and  I  am  always  happy ;  and  yet  I  do 
not  know  either  if  I  am  really  happy  when  I  am 
singing  so  joyously.  Bevis,  dear,  try  and  think  and 
tell  me.  Am  I  really  happy,  Bevis?  Tell  me,  dear; 
you  can  see  the  sun  sparkling  on  me,  and  the  Wind 
stroking  me,  just  as  he  strokes  your  hair  (he  told 
me  he  was  very  fond  of  you,  and  meant  to  tell  you 
a  story  some  day),  and  the  reeds  whispering,  and 
the  willows  drooping  over  me,  and  the  bright  king- 
fisher; you  can  hear  me  singing,  Bevis,  now  am  I 
happy  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know/'  said  Bevis ;  "  sometimes  you 
sound  very  happy,  but  just  now  you  sound  very 
sad.  Stop  a  little  while  and  think  about  it." 

"  Oh,  no,  Bevis ;  I  cannot  stop,  I  must  keep 
running.  Nothing  can  stop,  dear :  the  trees  cannot 
stop  growing,  they  must  keep  on  growing  till  they 
die;  and  then  they  cannot  stop  decaying,  till  they 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  209 

are  all  quite  gone ;  but  they  come  back  again.     Nor 
can  you  stop,  Bevis,  dear." 
"I  will  stop/'  said  Bevis. 
"You  cannot,"  said  the  Brook. 
"  But  I  will." 

"  You  cannot.  You  are  a  very  clever  boy,  Bevis, 
but  you  cannot  stop;  nor  can  your  papa,  nor  any- 
body, you  must  keep  on.  Let  me  see,  let  me  think. 
I  remember,  I  have  seen  you  before  ;  it  was  so  many, 
many  thousand  years  ago,  but  I  am  almost  sure  it 
was  you.  Now  I  begin  to  think  about  it,  I  believe 
I  have  seen  you  two  or  three  times,  Bevis ;  but  it 
was  before  the  hippopotamus  used  to  come  and  splash 
about  in  me.  I  cannot  be  quite  certain,  for  it  is  a 
long  time  to  remember  your  face,  dear/' 

"  I  do  not  believe  it,"  said  Bevis ;  "  you  are 
babbling,  Brook.  My  mamma  says  you  babble — it 
is  because  you  are  so  old.  I  am  sure  I  was  not  born 
then." 

"Yes,  you  were,  dear;  and  I  daresay  you  will 
come  back  again,  when  all  the  hills  are  changed  and 
the  roads  are  covered  with  woods,  and  the  houses 
gone.  I  daresay  you  will  come  back  and  splash  in 
me,  like  the  blackbirds." 


210  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"  Now  you  are  talking  nonsense ;  you  silly  Brook," 
said  Be  vis,  "  the  hills  will  never  change ;  and  the 
roads  will  always  be  here,  and  the  houses  will  not  be 
gone;  but  why  are  you  sighing,  you  dear  old  Brook  ?" 

"  I  am  sighing,  my  love,  because  I  remember/' 

"  What  do  you  remember  ?  " 

"  I  remember,  before  the  hills  were  like  they  are 
now ;  I  remember  when  I  was  a  broad  deep  river ;  I 
remember  the  stars  that  used  to  shine  in  me,  and 
they  are  all  gone,  you  cannot  see  them  now,  Bevis 
("  Pooh,"  said  Bevis) ;  I  remember  the  stories  the 
lions  used  to  tell  me  when  they  came  down  to  drink ; 
I  remember  the  people  dancing  on  the  grass  by  me, 
and  sing,  singing,  they  used  to  sing  like  me,  Bevis, 
without  knowing  what  it  was  they  sung,  and  with- 
out any  words  (not  stupid  songs,  Bevis,  like  your 
people  sing  now)  but  I  understood  them  very  well. 
I  cannot  understand  the  songs  the  folk  sing  now,  the 
folk  that  live  now  have  gone  away  so  far  from  me." 

"What  nonsense  you  say,  old  Brook;  why  we 
live  quite  close,  and  the  waggons  go  over  your 
bridge  every  day." 

"  I  remember "  (the  Brook  took  no  notice,  but 
went  on)  "1  remember  them  very  well,  and  they  loved 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  211 

me  dearly  too;    they  had  boats,  Bevis,  made  out  of 
trees,  and  they  floated  about  on  me." 

"  I  will  have  a  boat,"  said  Bevis,  "  and  float 
about  on  you/' 

"  And  they  played  music,  which  was  just  like  my 
singing,  and  they  were  very  happy,  because  as  I  told 
you  about  myself,  they  did  not  think  about  the 
minute  that  was  coming,  or  the  minute  that  had 
gone  by,  they  only  thought  about  This  Minute." 

"How  long  was  that  ago?"  said  Bevis. 

"  Oh,"  said  the  Brook,  "  I  daresay  your  papa 
would  tell  you  it  was  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
years,  but  that  is  not  true,  dear ;  it  was  only  a  second 
or  two  since." 

"I  shall  not  stay  to  listen  much  longer,  silly 
Brook,  if  you  talk  like  that ;  why  it  must  be  longer 
than  that,  or  I  should  have  seen  it." 

"  My  dear,"  said  the  Brook,  "  That  which  has 
gone  by,  whether  it  happened  a  second  since,  or  a 
thousand  thousand  years  since,  is  just  the  same; 
there  is  no  real  division  betwixt  you  and  the  past. 
You  people  who  live  now  have  made  up  all  sorts  of 
stupid,  very  stupid  stories,  dear ;  I  hope  you  will  not 

believe  them ;  they  tell  you  about  time  and  all  that. 
o  2 


212  WOOD    MAGIC. 

Now  there  is  no  such  thing  as  time,  Bevis  my  love ; 
there  never  was  any  time,  and  there  never  will  be; 
the  sun  laughs  at  it,  even  when  he  marks  it  on  the 
sun-dial.  Yesterday  was  just  a  second  ago,  and  so 
was  ten  thousand  years  since,  and  there  is  nothing 
between  you  and  then ;  there  is  no  wall  between  you 
and  then — nothing  at  all,  dear/' — and  the  Brook  sang 
so  low  and  thoughtfully  that  Bevis  could  not  catch 
what  he  said,  but  the  tune  was  so  sweet,  and  soft,  and 
sad  that  it  made  him  keep  quite  still.  While  he  was 
listening  the  kingfisher  came  back  and  perched  on  the 
hatch,  and  Bevis  saw  his  ruddy  neck  and  his  blue 
wings. 

"  There  is  nothing  between  you  and  then,"  the 
Brook  began  again,  "  nothing  at  all  dear,  only  some 
stories  which  are  not  true ;  if  you  will  not  believe 
me,  look  at  the  sun,  but  you  cannot  look  at  the  sun, 
darling;  it  shines  so  bright.  It  shines  just  the 
same,  as  bright  and  beautiful ;  and  the  Wind  blows 
as  sweet  as  ever,  and  I  sparkle  and  sing  just  the 
same,  and  you  may  drink  me  if  you  like ;  and  the 
grass  is  just  as  green ;  and  the  stars  shine  at  night. 
Oh,  yes,  Bevis  dear,  we  are  all  here  just  the  same, 
my  love,  and  all  things  are  as  bright  and  beautiful 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  213 

as  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  years  ago,  which 
is  no  longer  since  than  a  second. 

"But  your  people  have  gone  away  from  us — that 
is  their  own  fault.  I  cannot  think  why  they  should 
do  so;  they  have  gone  away  from  us,  and  they  are 
no  longer  happy,  Bevis  ;  they  cannot  understand  our 
songs, — they  sing  stupid  songs  they  have  made  up 
themselves,  and  which  they  did  not  learn  of  us,  and 
then  because  they  are  not  happy,  they  say  "  The  world 
is  growing  old."  But  it  is  not  true,  Bevis,  the  world 
is  not  old,  it  is  as  young  as  ever  it  was.  Fling  me  a 
leaf — and  now  another.  Do  not  you  forget  me,  Bevis  ; 
come  and  see  me  now  and  then,  and  throw  twigs  to 
me  and  splash  me." 

"  That  I  will,"  said  Bevis ;  and  he  picked  up  a 
stone  and  flung  it  into  the  water  with  such  a  splash 
that  the  kingfisher  flew  away,  but  the  Brook  only 
laughed,  and  told  him  to  throw  another,  and  to  make 
haste  and  eat  the  peck  of  salt,  and  grow  bigger  and 
jump  over  him.  "  That  I  will,"  said  Bevis,  "  I  am 
very  hungry  now — good  morning,  I  am  going  home 
to  dinner." 

"  Good  morning  dear,"  said  the  Brook,  "  you 
will  always  find  me  here  when  you  want  to  hear  a 


214  WOOD    MAGIC. 

song."  Bevis  went  home  to  dinner  humming  the 
tune  the  Brook  had  taught  him,  and  by-and-by, 
when  the  hot  sun  had  begun  to  sink  a  little,  he 
started  again  for  the  copse,  and  as  before,  the  dragon- 
fly met  him,  and  led  him  to  the  timber,  and  from 
there  to  the  raspberries. 

The  Squirrel  was  waiting  for  him  on  a  bough 
of  the  oak,  and  while  Bevis  picked  the  fruit  that 
had  ripened  since  yesterday,  told  him  the  news  the 
peewits  had  brought  about  the  great  rebel  Choo 
Hoo.  A  party  of  the  peewits,  who  had  been  watch- 
ing ever  so  far  away,  thought  they  saw  a  stir  and 
a  movement  in  the  woods;  and  presently,  out  came 
one  of  the  captains  of  the  wood-pigeons  with  two 
hundred  of  his  soldiers,  and  they  flew  over  the 
border  into  king  Kapchack's  country,  and  began  to 
forage  in  one  of  his  wheat-fields,  where  the  corn 
was  ripe.  When  they  saw  this,  the  peewits  held  a 
council  on  the  hill,  and  they  sent  a  messenger  to 
Kapchack  with  the  news.  While  they  were  waiting 
for  him  to  return,  some  of  the  wood-pigeons  having 
foraged  enough,  went  home  to  the  woods,  so  that 
there  was  not  much  more  than  half  of  them  left. 
Seeing  this — for  his  soldiers  who  were  wheeling 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  215 

about  in  the  air  came  and  told  him — the  captain 
of  the  peewits  thought,  "  Now  is  my  time  !  This 
is  a  most  lucky  and  fortunate  circumstance,  and  I 
can  now  win  the  high  approval  of  king  Kap- 
chack,  and  obtain  promotion.  The  captain  of  the 
wood-pigeons  has  no  idea  how  many  of  us  are 
watching  his  proceedings,  for  I  have  kept  my  pee- 
wits behind  the  cover  of  the  hill  so  that  he  could 
not  count  them,  and  he  has  allowed  half  of  the  wood- 
pigeons  to  go  home.  We  will  rush  down  upon 
the  rest,  and  so  win  an  easy  victory/' 

So  saying  he  flew  up,  and  all  the  peewits  fol- 
lowed him  in  the  expectation  of  an  easy  conquest. 
But,  just  as  they  were  descending  upon  the  wheat- 
field,  up  flew  the  wood-pigeons  with  such  a  terrible 
clangour  of  their  strong  wings,  and  facing  towards 
them,  showed  such  a  determination  to  fight  to  the 
last  breath,  that  the  peewits,  who  were  never  very 
celebrated  for  their  courage,  turned  tail,  and  began 
to  retreat. 

They  would  still  have  reached  the  hills  in  good 
order,  and  would  have  suffered  no  great  disgrace 
(for  they  were  but  a  small  party,  and  not  so  nume- 
rous as  the  wood-pigeons),  but  in  the  midst  of  these 


216  WOOD    MAGIC. 

manoeuvres,  the  lieutenant  of  the  pigeons,  who  had 
gone  home  with  those  who  had  done  foraging,  flew 
out  from  the\wood  with  his  men,  and  tried  by  a 
flank  movement  to  cut  off  the  peewits'  retreat.  At 
this  they  were  so  alarmed  they  separated  and  broke 
up  their  ranks,  each  flying  to  save  himself  as  best 
he  might.  Nor  did  they  stop  till  long  after  the 
wood-pigeons,  being  cautious  and  under  complete 
control,  had  ceased  to  pursue  ;  not  till  they  had 
flown  back  two  or  three  miles  into  the  fastnesses 
of  Kapchacfs  hills.  Then  some  of  them  collecting 
again,  held  a  hurried  council,  and  sent  off  messen- 
gers with  the  news  of  this  affray. 

About  the  same  time,  it  happened  that  a  missel- 
thrush  arrived  at  the  court,  a  son  of  the  favourite 
missel-thrush,  the  only  bird  whom  Kapchack  (and 
the  farmer)  allowed  to  build  in  the  orchard.  The 
missel-thrush  had  just  travelled  through  part  of  the 
country  which  once  belonged  to  Kapchack,  but  which 
Choo  Hoo  had  over-run  the  year  before,  and  he 
brought  Kapchack  such  a  terrible  account  of  the 
mighty  armies  that  he  saw  assembling,  that  the 
king  was  beside  himself  with  terror.  Next  came  a, 
crow,  one  of  Kauc's  warriors,  who  had  been  that 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  217 

way,  and  he  said  that  two  captains  of  the  wood- 
pigeons,  hearing  of  the  peewits'  defeat,  had  already, 
and  without  staying  for  instructions  from  Choo  Hoo, 
entered  the  country  and  taken  possession  of  a  copse 
on  the  slope  of  the  hill  from  which  the  peewits  had 
descended. 

"  And,"  said  the  Squirrel,  as  Bevis  having  eaten 
all  the  raspberries,  came  and  sat  down  on  the  moss 
under  the  oak,  "  the  upshot  of  it  is  that  king 
Kapchack  has  called  a  general  council  of  war,  which 
is  to  be  held  almost  directly  at  the  OwFs  castle,  in 
the  pollard  hard  by.  For  you  must  understand  that 
the  farmer  who  lives  near  Kapchack's  palace  is  so 
fierce,  he  will  not  let  any  of  the  large  birds  (except  the 
favourite  missel-thrush)  enter  the  orchard,  and  there- 
fore Kapchack  has  to  hold  these  great  councils  in 
the  copse.  What  will  be  the  result  I  cannot  think, 
and  I  am  not  without  serious  apprehensions  myself, 
for  I  have  hitherto  held  undisputed  possession  of 
this  domain.  But  Choo  Hoo  is  so  despotic,  and  has 
such  an  immense  army  at  his  back,  that  I  am  not 
at  all  certain  he  will  respect  my  neutrality.  As  for 
Kapchack,  he  shivers  in  his  claws  at  the  very  name 
of  the  mighty  rebel." 


218  WOOD     MAGIC. 

"  Why  does  Choo  Hoo  want  king  Kapchack's 
country?"  said  Bevis.  "Why  cannot  he  stop  where 
he  is?"  I 

"  There  is  no  reason,  dear  ;  but  you  know  that 
all  the  birds  and  animals  would  like  to  be  king  if 
they  could,  and  when  Choo  Hoo  found  that  the 
wood-pigeons  (for  he  was  nothing  but  an  adventurer 
at  first,  without  any  title  or  property  except  the 
ancestral  ash)  were  growing  so  numerous  that  the 
woods  would  hardly  hold  them,  and  were  continually 
being  increased  both  by  their  own  populousness  and 
by  the  arrival  of  fresh  bands,  it  occurred  to  him 
that  this  enormous  horde  of  people,  if  they  could 
only  be  persuaded  to  follow  him,  could  easily  over- 
run the  entire  country.  Hitherto,  it  was  true,  they 
had  been  easily  kept  in  subjection,  notwithstanding 
their  immense  numbers,  first,  because  they  had  no 
leaders  among  them,  nor  even  any  nobles  or  rich 
people  to  govern  their  movements  and  tell  them 
what  to  do ;  and  next,  because  they  were  barbarians, 
and  totally  destitute  of  art  or  refinement,  knowledge, 
or  science,  neither  had  they  any  skill  in  diplomacy 
or  politics,  but  were  utterly  outside  the  civilized 
nations. 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  219 

"  Even  their  language,  as  you  yourself  have  heard, 
is  very  contracted  and  poor,  without  inflection  or 
expression,  being  nothing  but  the  repetition  of  the 
same  sounds,  by  which  means — that  is  simply  by 
the  number  and  the  depth  or  hollowness  of  the  same 
monosyllables — they  convey  their  wishes  to  each  other. 
It  is,  indeed,  wonderful  how  they  can  do  so,  and  our 
learned  men,  from  this  circumstance,  have  held  that 
the  language  of  the  wood-pigeon  is  the  most  difficult 
to  acquire,  so  much  so  that  it  is  scarce  possible  for 
one  who  has  not  been  born  among  the  barbarians  to 
attain  to  any  facility  in  the  use  of  these  gutturals. 
This  is  the  reason  why  little  or  no  intercourse  has  ever 
taken  place  between  us  who  are  civilised  and  these 
hordes ;  that  which  has  gone  on  has  been  entirely 
conducted  by  the  aid  of  interpreters,  being  those  few 
wood-pigeons  who  have  come  away  from  the  main 
body,  and  dwell  peaceably  in  our  midst. 

"Now,  Choo  Hoo,  as  I  said,  being  an  adventurer, 
with  no  more  property  than  the  ancestral  ash,  but  a 
pigeon  of  very  extraordinary  genius,  considered  within 
himself,  that  if  any  one  could  but  persuade  these 
mighty  and  incredible  myriads  to  follow  him  he  could 
overrun  the  entire  country.  The  very  absence  of  any 


220  WOOD    MAGIC. 

nobles  or  rich  pigeons  among  them  would  make  his 
sway  the  more  absolute  if  he  once  got  power,  for 
there  would  be  none  to  dispute  it,  or  to  put  any 
check  upon  him.  Ignorant  and  barbarous  as  they 
were,  the  common  pigeons  would  worship  sue  h  n 
captain  as  a  hero  and  a  demi-god,  and  would  fly  to 
certain  destruction  in  obedience  to  his  orders. 

"  He  was  the  more  encouraged  to  the  enterprise 
because  it  was  on  record  that  in  olden  times  great  bodies 
of  pigeons  had  passed  across  the  country  sweeping 
everything  before  them.  Nothing  could  resist  their 
onward  march,  and  it  is  owing  to  these  barbarian 
invasions  that  so  many  of  our  most  precious  chronicles 
have  been  destroyed,  and  our  early  history,  Bevis 
dear,  involved  in  obscurity.  Their  dominion — destruc- 
tive as  it  was — had,  however,  always  passed  away  as 
rapidly  as  it  arose,  on  account  of  the  lack  of  cohesion 
in  their  countless  armies.  They  marched  without  a 
leader,  and  without  order,  obeying  for  a  time  a 
common  impulse;  when  that  impulse  ceased  they 
retired  tumultuously,  suffering  grievous  losses  from 
the  armies  which  gathered  behind  and  hung  upon 
their  rear.  Their  bones  whitened  the  fields,  and  the 
sun,  it  is  said,  was  darkened  at  noonday  by  their 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  221 

hastening  crowds  fleeing-  in  dense  columns,  and  struck 
down  as  they  fled  by  hawks  and  crows. 

"  Had  they  possessed  a  leader  in  whom  they  felt 
confidence  the  result  might  have  been  very  different ; 
indeed,  our  wisest  historians  express  no  doubt  that 
civilisation  must  have  been  entirely  extinguished,  and 
these  lovely  fields  and  delicious  woods  have  been 
wholly  occupied  by  the  barbarians.  Fortunately  it 
was  not  so.  But,  as  I  said,  Choo  Hoo,  retiring  to 
the  top  of  a  lofty  fir-tree,  and  filled  with  these  ideas, 
surveyed  from  thence  the  masses  of  his  countrymen 
returning  to  the  woods  to  roost  as  the  sun  declined, 
and  resolved  to  lose  no  time  in  endeavouring  to  win 
them  to  his  will,  and  to  persuade  them  to  embark 
upon  the  extraordinary  enterprise  which  he  had 
conceived. 

"  Without  delay  he  proceeded  to  promulgate  his 
plans,  flying  from  tribe  to  tribe,  and  from  flock  to 
flock,  ceaselessly  proclaiming  that  the  kingdom  was 
the  wood-pigeons'  by  right,  by  reason  of  their  numbers, 
and  because  of  the  wickedness  of  Kapchack  and  his 
court,  which  wickedness  was  notorious,  and  must  end 
in  disaster.  As  you  may  imagine,  he  met  with  little 
or  no  response — for  the  most  part  the  pigeons,  being 


222  WOOD    MAGIC. 

of  a  stolid  nature,  went  on  with  their  feeding  and 
talking,  and  took  no  notice  whatever  of  his  orations. 
After  a  while  the  elder  ones,  indeed,  began  to  say 
to  each  other  that  this  agitator  had  better  be  put 
down  and  debarred  from  freedom  of  speech,  for  such 
seditious  language  must  ultimately  be  reported  to 
Kapchack,  who  would  send  his  body-guards  of  hawks 
among  them  and  exact  a  sanguinary  vengeance. 

"  Finding  himself  in  danger,  Choo  Hoo,  not  one 
whit  abashed,  instead  of  fleeing,  came  before  the  elders 
and  openly  reproached  them  with  misgovernment, 
cowardice,  and  the  concealment  or  loss  of  certain  ancient 
prophecies,  which  foretold  the  future  power  of  the 
wood-pigeons,  and  which  he  accused  them  of  holding 
back  out  of  jealousy,  lest  they  should  lose  the  miserable 
petty  authority  they  enjoyed  on  account  of  their  age. 
Now,  whether  there  were  really  any  such  prophecies, 
I  cannot  tell  you,  or  whether  it  was  one  of  Choo 
Hoo's  clever  artifices,  it  is  a  moot  point  among  our 
most  learned  antiquaries;  the  Owl,  who  has  the 
best  means  of  information,  told  me  once  that  he  be- 
lieved there  was  some  ground  for  the  assertion. 

"  At  any  rate  it  suited  Choo  Hoo's  purpose  very 
well;  for  although  the  elders  and  the  heads  of  the 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  223 

tribes  forthwith  proceeded  to  subject  him  to  every 
species  of  persecution,  and  attacked  him  so  violently 
that  he  lost  nearly  all  his  feathers,  the  common  pigeons 
sympathised  with  him,  and  hid  him  from  their  pur- 
suit. They  were  the  more  led  to  sympathise  with  him 
because,  on  account  of  their  ever-increasing  numbers, 
the  territory  allotted  to  them  by  Kapchack  was  daily 
becoming  less  and  less  suited  to  their  wants,  and 
in  short,  there  were  some  signs  of  a  famine.  They, 
therefore,  looked  with  longing  eyes  at  the  fertile 
country,  teeming  with  wheat  and  acorns  around 
them,  and  listened  with  greedy  ears  to  the  tempting 
prospect  so  graphically  described  by  Choo  Hoo. 

"  Above  all,  the  young  pigeons  attached  themselves 
to  his  fortunes  and  followed  him  everywhere  in  con- 
continually  increasing  bands,  for  he  promised  them 
wives  in  plenty  and  trees  for  their  nests  without 
number ;  for  all  the  trees  in  their  woods  were  already 
occupied  by  the  older  families,  who  would  not  more- 
over, part  with  their  daughters  to  young  pigeons  who 
had  not  a  branch  to  roost  on.  Some  say  that  the 
Fox,  who  has  long  been  deeply  discontented  at  the 
loss  of  his  ancestors'  kingdom  and  of  his  own  wealth 
which  he  dissipated  so  carelessly,  did  not  scruple  to 


224  WOOD     MAGIC. 

advise  Choo  Hoo  how  to  proceed.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
I  should  be  the  last  to  accuse  any  one  of  disloyalty 
without  evident  proof;  be  that  as  it  may,  the  stir 
and  commotion  grew  so  great  among  the  wood- 
pigeons,  that  presently  the  news  of  it  reached  king 
Kapchack. 

"  His  spies,  of  whom  he  has  so  many  (the  chief  of 
them  is  Te-te,  the  tomtit  of  whom  I  bid  you  be- 
ware) brought  him  full  intelligence  of  what  was 
going  on.  Kapchack  lost  no  time  in  calling  his 
principal  advisers  around  him  ;  they  met  close  by  here 
(where  the  council  is  to  take  place  this  afternoon) 
for  he  well  knew  the  importance  of  the  news.  It 
was  not  only  you  see,  the  immense  numbers  of  the 
wood-pigeons  and  the  impossibility  of  resisting  their 
march,  were  they  once  set  in  motion,  but  he 
had  to  consider  that  there  was  a  considerable  popu- 
lation of  pigeons  in  our  midst  who  might  turn 
traitors,  and  he  was  by  no  means  sure  of  the  allegi- 
ance of  various  other  tribes,  who  were  only  held 
down  by  terror. 

"The  council  fully  acknowledged  the  gravity  of 
the  situation,  and  upon  the  advice  of  the  Hawk  it 
was  resolved  that  Choo  Hoo,  as  the  prime  mover 


THE    EMPEROR     CHOO    HOO.  225 

of  the  trouble,  and  as  the  only  one  capable  of  bring- 
ing matters  to  a  crisis,  should  be  forthwith  des- 
patched. But  when  the  executioners  proceeded  to 
seize  him  he  eluded  their  clutches  with  the  greatest 
ease;  for  his  followers  (such  was  their  infatuation) 
devoted  their  lives  to  his,  and  threw  themselves  in 
the  way  of  Kapchack's  emissaries,  the  hawks,  sub- 
mitting to  be  torn  in  pieces  rather  than  see  their 
beloved  hero  lose  a  feather.  Thus  baffled,  the  en- 
raged Kapchack  next  tried  to  get  him  assassinated, 
but  as  before,  his  friends  watched  about  him  with 
such  solicitude,  that  no  one  could  enter  the  wood 
where  he  slept  at  night  without  their  raising  such 
a  disturbance  that  their  evil  purpose  was  defeated. 
"  In  his  rage  Kapchack  ordered  a  decimation  of 
the  wood-pigeons,  which  I  myself  think  was  a  great 
mistake ;  but  as  I  have  told  you  before,  I  do  not 
meddle  with  politics.  Still  I  cannot  help  think- 
ing that  if  he  had,  instead,  of  his  royal  bounty  and 
benevolence,  given  the  wood-pigeons  an  increase  of 
territory,  seeing  how  near  they  sometimes  came  to 
a  famine,  that  they  would  have  been  disarmed  and 
their  discontent  turned  to  gratitude ;  but  he  ordered 
in  his  rage  and  terror  that  they  should  be  decimated, 


226  WOOD    AJAGIC. 

and  let  loose  the  whole  army  of  his  hawks  upon 
them,  so  that  the  slaughter  was  awful  to  behold, 
and  the  ground  was  strewn  with  their  torn  and 
mangled  bodies.  Yet  they  remained  faithful  to  Choo 
Hoo,  and  not  one  traitor  was  found  amongst  these 
loyal  barbarians. 

"But  Choo  Hoo,  deeply  distressed  in  mind,  said 
that  he  would  relieve  them  from  the  burden  of  his 
presence  rather  than  thus  be  the  cause  of  their 
sorrow.  He  therefore  left  those  provinces  and  flew 
out  of  the  country,  leaving  word  behind  him  that  he 
would  never  return  till  he  had  seen  the  Raven,  and 
recovered  from  him  those  ancient  prophecies  that  had 
so  long  been  lost.  He  Hew  away,  and  disappeared 
in  the  distance;  the  days  and  weeks  passed,  but  he 
did  not  return,  and  at  last  Kapchack,  relieved  of 
his  apprehensions,  recalled  his  murderous  troops,  and 
the  pigeons  were  left  in  peace  to  lament  their  Choo 
Hoo. 

u  A  twelvemonth  passed,  and  still  Choo  Hoo  did 
not  come ;  the  people  said  he  had  been  called  to  the 
happy  Forest  of  the  Heroes,  and  averred  that  some- 
times they  heard  his  voice  calling  to  them  when  no 
one  was  near.  There  was  no  doubt  that  he  had  gone 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  227 

with  the  Raven.  The  Raven  you  must  know,  my 
dear  Sir  Bevis,  was  once  the  principal  judge  and 
arbiter  of  justice  amongst  us,  so  much  so  that  he 
\vas  above  kings,  and  it  is  certain  that  had  he  been 
here  we  should  not  have  had  to  submit  to  the 
sanguinary  tyranny  of  Kapchack,  nor  condemned 
to  witness  the  scandalous  behaviour  of  his  court, 
or  the  still  greater  scandal  of  his  own  private  life. 
But  for  some  reason  the  Raven  mysteriously  left  this 
country  about  a  hundred  years  ago,  leaving  behind  him 
certain  prophecies,  some  of  which  no  doubt  you  have 
heard,  especially  that  upon  his  return  there  will  be  no 
more  famine,  nor  frost,  nor  slaughter,  nor  conflict, 
but  we  shall  all  live  together  in  peace. 

"  However  that  may  be,  the  Raven  has  never  come 
back ;  the  learned  hold  that  he  must  have  died  long 
since,  for  he  was  so  aged  when  he  went  away  no 
one  knew  his  years,  hinting  in  their  disbelief  that 
he  went  away  to  die,  and  so  surround  his  death 
with  a  halo  of  mystery ;  but  the  common  people 
are  quite  of  a  different  opinion,  and  strenuously  uphold 
the  belief  that  he  will  some  day  return.  Well,  as 
I  told  you,  a  twelvemonth  went  by,  and  Cboo  Hoo 
did  not  come,  when  suddenly  in  the  spring  (when 


228  WOOD    MAGIC. 

Kapchack  himself  was  much  occupied  in  his  palace, 
and  most  of  his  spies  were  busy  with  their  nests, 
and  the  matter  had  almost  been  forgotten)  Choo 
Hoo  re-appeared,  bringing  with  him  the  most  beauti- 
ful young  bride  that  was  ever  beheld,  as  he  himself 
was,  on  the  other  hand,  the  strongest  and  swiftest 
of  the  wood-pigeons. 

"  When  this  was  known  (and  the  news  spread  in 
a  minute)  the  enthusiasm  of  the  barbarians  knew  no 
bounds.  Notwithstanding  it  was  nesting-time,  they 
collected  in  such  vast  numbers  that  the  boughs 
cracked  with  their  weight;  they  unanimously  pro- 
claimed Choo  Hoo  emperor  (for  they  disdained  the 
title  of  king  as  not  sufficiently  exalted)  and  declared 
their  intention,  as  soon  as  the  nesting- time  was 
over,  and  the  proper  season — the  autumn — for  cam- 
paigning arrived,  of  following  him,  and  invading  the 
kingdom  of  Kapchack. 

"  Choo  Hoo  told  them  that,  after  many  months  of 
wandering,  he  had  at  last  succeeded  in  finding  the 
Raven;  at  least  he  had  not  seen  the  Raven  himself, 
but  the  Raven  had  sent  a  special  messenger,  the  haw- 
finch, to  tell  him  to  be  of  good  cheer,  and  to  return 
to  the  wood-pigeons,  and  to  lead  them  forth  against 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  229 

Kapchack,  who  tottered  upon  his  throne;  and  that 
he  (the  Raven)  would  send  the  night-jar,  or  goat- 
sucker, with  crooked  and  evil  counsels  to  confound 
Kapchack's  wisdom.  And  indeed,  Bevis,  my  dear, 
I  have  myself  seen  several  night-jars  about  here,  and 
I  am  rather  inclined  to  think  that  there  is  some 
truth  in  this  part  at  least  of  what  Choo  Hoo  says ; 
for  it  is  an  old  proverb,  which  I  daresay  you  have 
heard,  that  when  the  gods  design  the  destruction  of 
a  monarch  they  first  make  him  mad,  and  what  can 
be  more  mad  than  Kapchack's  proposed  marriage 
with  the  jay,  to  which  he  was  doubtless  instigated 
by  the  night-jars,  who,  like  genii  of  the  air,  have 
been  floating  in  the  dusky  summer  twilight  round 
about  his  palace. 

<(  And  they  have,  I  really  believe,  confounded 
his  council  and  turned  his  wisdom  to  folly;  for 
Kapchack  has  been  so  cunning  for  so  many  many 
years,  and  all  his  family  have  been  so  cunning,  and  all 
his  councillors,  that  now  I  do  believe  (only  I  do  not 
meddle  with  politics)  that  this  extreme  cunning  is 
too  clever,  and  that  they  will  overreach  themselves. 
However,  we  shall  see  what  is  said  at  the  council 
by-and-by. 


230  WOOD    MAGIC. 

"Choo  Hoo  having  told  the  pigeons  this,  added 
that  he  had  further  been  instructed  by  the  Raven 
to  give  them  a  sacred  and  mystic  pass-word  and 
rallying  cry;  he  did  not  himself  know  what  it 
meant,  it  was,  however  something  very  powerful, 
and  by  it  they  would  be  led  to  victory.  So  saying, 
he  called  '  Koos-takke  ! '  and  at  once  the  vast  assembly 
seized  the  signal  and  responded  '  Koos-takke  ! '  which 
mystic  syllables  are  now  their  war-cry,  their  call  of 
defiance,  and  their  welcome  to  their  friends.  You 
may  often  hear  them  shouting  these  words  in  the 
depths  of  the  woods ;  Choo  Hoo  learnt  them  in  the 
enchanted  Forest  of  Savernake,  where,  as  everyone 
knows,  there  are  many  mighty  magicians,  and  where, 
perhaps,  the  Raven  is  still  living  in  its  deep  recesses. 
Now  this  war-cry  supplied,  as  doubtless  the  Raven 
had  foreseen,  the  very  link  that  was  wanting  to  bind 
the  immense  crowd  of  wood-pigeons  together.  Thence- 
forward they  had  a  common  sign  and  pass-word, 
and  were  no  longer  scattered. 

"  In  the  autumn  Choo  Hoo  crossed  the  border  with 
a  vast  horde,  and  although  Kapchack  sent  his  generals, 
who  inflicted  enormous  losses,  such  as  no  other  nation 
but  the  barbarians  could  have  sustained,  nothing 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  231 

could  stay  the  advance  of  such  incredible  numbers. 
After  a  whole  autumn  and  winter  of  severe  and 
continued  fighting,  Choo  Hoo,  early  in  the  next  year 
found  that  he  had  advanced  some  ten  (and  in  places 
fifteen)  miles,  giving  his  people  room  to  feed  and  move. 
He  had  really  pushed  much  further  than  that,  but 
he  could  not  hold  all  the  ground  he  had  taken  for 
the  following  reason :  In  the  spring,  as  the  soft 
warm  weather  came,  and  the  sun  began  to  shine, 
and  the  rain  to  fall,  and  the  brook  to  sing  more 
sweetly,  and  the  wind  to  breathe  gently  with  de- 
licious perfume,  and  the  green  leaves  to  come 
forth,  the  barbarians  began  to  feel  the  influence  of 
love. 

"  They  could  no  longer  endure  to  fly  in  the  dense 
column,  they  no  longer  obeyed  the  voice  of  their 
captain.  They  fell  in  love,  and  each  marrying  set 
about  to  build  a  nest,  free  and  unmolested  in  those 
trees  that  Choo  Hoo  had  promised  them.  Choo  Hoo 
himself  retired  with  his  lovely  bride  to  the  ancestral 
ash,  and  passed  the  summer  in  happy  dalliance. 
With  the  autumn  the  campaign  recommenced,  and 
with  exactly  the  same  result.  After  a  second  autumn 
and  winter  of  fighting,  Choo  Hoo  had  pushed  his  fron- 


WOOD    MAGIC. 

tier  another  fifteen  miles  further  into  Kapc hack's 
kingdom.  Another  summer  of  love  followed,  and 
so  it  went  on  year  after  year,  Choo  Hoo's  forces 
meantime  continually  increasing  in  numbers,  since 
there  were  now  no  restrictions  as  to  nest  trees,  but 
one  and  all  could  marry. 

"Till  at  last  he  has  under  his  sway  a  horde  of 
trained  warriors,  whose  numbers  defy  calculation, 
and  he  has  year  by  year  pushed  into  Kapchack's 
territory  till  now  it  seems  as  if  he  must  utterly 
overwhelm  and  destroy  that  monarch.  This  he  would 
doubtless  have  achieved  ere  now,  but  there  is  one 
difficulty  which  has  considerably  impeded  his  advance, 
as  he  came  farther  and  farther  from  his  native  pro- 
vince. This  difficulty  is  water. 

"  For  in  the  winter,  when  the  Longpond  is  frozen, 
and  the  brook  nearly  covered  with  ice,  and  all  the 
ponds  and  ditches  likewise,  so  vast  a  horde  cannot  find 
enough  to  satisfy  their  thirst,  and  must  consequently 
disperse.  Were  it  not  for  this  Choo  Hoo  must  ere 
now  have  overwhelmed  us.  As  it  is,  Kapchack  shivers 
in  his  claws,  and  we  all  dread  the  approaching 
autumn,  for  Choo  Hoo  has  now  approached  so  near 
as  to  be  at  our  very  doors.  If  he  only  knew  one 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO     HOO.  233 

thing  he  would  have  no  difficulty  in  remaining  here 
and  utterly  destroying  us." 

"  What  is  that  ?  "  said  Bevis. 

1 '  Will  you  promise  faithfully  not  to  tell  anyone  ?  " 
said  the  Squirrel,  "for  my  own  existence  depends 
upon  this  horde  of  barbarians  being  kept  at  bay; 
for  you  see  should  they  pass  over  they  will  devour 
every  thing  in  the  land,  and  there  will  certainly  be 
a  famine — the  most  dreadful  that  has  ever  been 
seen." 

"  I  will  promise/'  said  Bevis,  "  I  promise  you 
faithfully/' 

"  Then    I   will  tell  you/'   went  on  the  Squirrel : 

"  In  this  copse  of  mine  there  is  a  spring  of  the 
clearest  and  sweetest  water  (you  shall  see  it,  I  will 
take  you  to  it  some  day)  which  is  a  great  secret,  for 
it  is  so  hidden  by  ferns  and  fir-trees  over-hanging 
it,  that  no  one  knows  anything  about  it  except  Kap- 
chack,  myself,  the  Weasel,  and  the  Fox;  I  wish  the 
Weasel  did  not  know,  for  he  is  so  gluttonous  for 
blood,  which  makes  him  thirsty,  that  he  is  con- 
tinually dipping  his  murderous  snout  into  the  de- 
licious water. 

"  Now  this  spring  being   so  warm  in  the   fern, 
Q 


234-  WOOD    MAGIC. 

and  coming  out  of  ground  which  is,  in  a  manner, 
warm  too,  of  all  the  springs  in  this  province  does 
not  freeze,  but  always  runs  clear  all  the  winter.  If 
Choo  Hoc  only  knew  it,  don't  you  see,  he  could 
stay  in  Kapchack's  country,  no  matter  how  hard  the 
frost,  and  his  enormous  army,  whose  main  object  is 
plunder,  would  soon  starve  us  altogether.  But  he 
does  not  know  of  it. 

"  He  has  sent  several  of  his  spies,  the  wood- 
cocks, to  search  the  country  for  such  a  spring,  but 
although  they  are  the  most  cunning  of  birds  at 
that  trick,  they  have  not  yet  succeeded  in  finding 
my  spring  and  thrusting  their  long  bills  into  it.  They 
dare  not  come  openly,  but  fly  by  night,  for  Kapchack's 
hawks  are  always  hovering  about;  well  enough  he 
knows  the  importance  of  this  secret,  and  they  would 
pay  for  their  temerity  with  their  lives  if  they  were 
seen.  All  I  am  afraid  of  is  lest  the  Weasel  or  the 
Fox,  in  their  eagerness  for  empire,  should  betray 
the  secret  to  Choo  Hoo. 

"  The  Fox,  though  full  of  duplicity,  and  not  to  be 
depended  upon,  is  at  least  brave  and  bold,  and  so  far 
as  I  can  judge  his  character  would  not,  for  his  own 
sake  (hoping  some  day  to  regain  the  kingdom)  let 


THE    EMPEROR    CHOO    HOO.  235 

out  this  secret.  But  of  the  Weasel  I  am  not  so  sure  ; 
he  is  so  very  wicked,  and  so  cunning,  no  one  can  tell 
what  he  may  do.  Thus  it  is  that  in  the  highest  of 
my  beech  trees  I  do  not  feel  secure,  but  am  in  con- 
tinual fear  lest  a  wood-cock  should  steal  in,  or  the 
Weasel  play  the  traitor,  for  if  so  a  famine  is  imminent, 
and  that  is  why  I  support,  so  far  as  I  can  without 
meddling  with  politics,  the  throne  of  Kapchack,  as 
the  last  barrier  against  this  terrible  fate. 

"  Even  now  could  he  but  be  brought  to  reform 
his  present  life  something  might  be.  hoped  for,  for 
he  has  a  powerful  army ;  but,  as  you  have  seen,  this 
affair  with  the  jay  has  caused  ambitious  ideas  to 
spring  up  in  the  minds  of  his  chief  courtiers,  some  of 
whom  (especially  I  think  the  Crow  and  the  Weasel) 
are  capable  of  destroying  a  country  for  their  private 
and  personal  advantage.  Therefore  it  is  that  I  look 
forward  to  this  council,  now  about  to  be  held,  with 
intense  anxiety,  for  upon  it  will  depend  our  future, 
the  throne  of  Kapchack,  our  existence  or  destruction. 
And  here  comes  the  Rook;  the  first  as  usual." 


CASSELL,  FETTER,  GALPIN  &  Co.,  BELLE  SACVASE  WORKS,  LONDON,  B.C. 


SELECTIONS    FROM    VOLUMES 

Published  byCassell,  Petter,  Galpin  &Co. 

Wood  Magic  :  A  Fable. 

By  RICHARD  JEFFERIES,  Author  of  "  The  Gamekeeper  at  Home," 
&c.,  &c.  Two  Vols.,  2 is. 

England  :    Its   People,  Polity,  and   Pursuits. 

By  T.  H.  S.  ESCOTT.     Two  Vols.,  demy  8vo,  cloth,  245. 

A  History  of  Modern  Europe. 

By  C.  A.  FYFFE,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  University  College,  Oxford. 
Vol.  I.,  with  Two  Maps.  Demy  8vo,  123. 

Young  Ireland  :  A  Fragment  of  Irish  History. 

By  the  Hon.  Sir  CHARLES  GAVAN  DUFFY,  K.C.M.G.  Demy  8vo, 
cloth,  2 is.  

English  and  Irish  Land  Questions. 

Collected  Essays  by  the  Rt.  Hon.  G.  SHAW-LEFEVRE,  M.P.,  First 
Commissioner  of  Works  and  Public  Buildings.  Price  6s. 

Land  Tenure  in  Various  Countries,  Systems  of. 

A  Series  of  Essays,  published  under  the  sanction  of  the  Cobden 
Club.  Edited  by  J.  W.  PROBYN.  New  Edition,  cloth,  33.  6d. 

The  Landed  Interest,  and  the  Supply  of  Food. 

By  JAMES  CAIRD,  C.B.,  F.R.S.  New  and  Enlarged  Edition, 
Revised.  Cloth,  53. 

English  Land  and  English  Landlords. 

An  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  and  Character  of  the  English  Land 
System,  with  Proposals  for  its  Reform.  By  the  Hon.  GEORGE  C. 
BRODRICK.  Price  123.  6d.  Published  for  the  Cobden  Club. 

The  Life  of  the  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone. 

By  GEORGE  BARNETT  SMITH.  With  Two  Steel  Portraits. 
Cheap  Edition,  in  One  Vol.,  cloth,  53. 

The  English  Army:  Its  Past  History,  Present 

Condition,  and  Future  Prospects.  By  Major  ARTHUR 
GRIFFITHS.  Demy  8vo,  cloth,  213. 

The  British  Army. 

From  the  Restoration  to  the  Revolution.  By  Sir  SlBBALD  SCOTT, 
Bart.  Demy  8vo,  cloth,  2is. 

Cassell,   Petter,  Calf  in  <k  Co. :  Ludgatt  Hill,  London  ;   fan's  ;   and  Ncit>  York. 

i  6  0—381. 


Selections  from  Cassell,  Fetter,  Galpin  &  Co.'s  Volumes  (Continued}. 

Memories  of  My  Exile. 

By  Louis   KOSSUTH.     Relating  to  the   Period  when  the  Italian 
Kingdom  was  being  established.     One  Vol.,  IDS.  6d. 

Russia. 

By  D.  MACKENZIE  WALLACE,  M.A.     Cheap  Edition,  in  One  Vol., 
with  Two  Maps,  los.  6d.     Library  Edition,  Two  Vols.,  243. 

A  Ride  to  KhivaT" 

By  CAPTAIN  BURNABY.   Cheap  Edition.  35.  6d. 

The  Land  of  the  Boer.  Adventures  in  Natal, 
Zululand,  Basutoland,  Orange  Free  State,  and  the 
Transvaal.  By  PARKER  GILLMORE.  Cheap  Edition,  33.  6d. 

With  the  Armies  of  the  Balkans  and  at  Gallipoli, 

1877-8.     By  Lieut.-Col.  FIFE  COOKSON.    With  Maps,  Plans,  and 
Illustrations.     Cheap  Edition,  cloth,  55. 

Remedies  for  War,  Political  and  Legal. 

By  Professor  SHELDON  AMOS,  M.A.,  Barrister-at-Law.      Price  6s. 

England,  Cassell's  History  of. 

With  about  2,000  Illustrations.     Nine  Vols.,  cloth,  93.  each.     Or 
in  library  binding,  £4.  IDS.  complete. 

United  States,  Cassell's  History  of  the. 

With  600  Illustrations  and  Maps.     1,950  pages,  extra  crown  410. 
Complete  in  Three  Vols.,  cloth,  ,£1  73.;  or  in  library  binding,  £l  IDS. 

India,  Cassell's  History  of. 

With  about  400  Maps,  Plans,  and    Illustrations.     Extra  crown 
4to,  Two  Vols.,  cloth,  i8s. ;  or  in  library  binding,  £i. 

The  War  between  France  and  Germany,  Cassell's 

History  of.     With  500  Engravings.     Two  Vols.     Extra  crown 
4to,  cloth,  1 8s.  ;  or  bound  in  half-calf,  305. 

The  Russo-Turkish  War,  Cassell's  History  of. 

Complete  in  Two  Vols.  With  about  500  ILLUSTRATIONS.  93.  each. 

British  Battles  on  Land  and  Sea. 

By  JAMES  GRANT.    With  about  600  Illustrations.    Three  Vols., 
cloth,  £i  73.;  or  in  library  binding,  £i  IDS. 

Old  and  New  London.  A  Narrative  of  its  History, 
its  People,  and  its  Places.  With  1,200  Illustrations.  Com- 
plete in  Six  Vols.,  95.  each  ;  or  in  library  binding,  £3. 

Cassell,  Fetter,  Galpin  <fc  Co.  :  Ludgate  Hill,  London ;  Fan's ;  and  New  York. 


Selections  from  Cassell,  Fetter,  Galpin  &  Co.'s  Volumes  {Continued). 

The  Life  and  Work  of  St.  Paul. 

By  the  Rev.  F.  W.  FARRAR,  D.D.,  F.R.S.,  Canon  of  Westminster, 
and  Chaplain  in  Ordinary  to  the  Queen,  ijth  Thousand,  Two 
Vols.,  demy  8vo,  cloth,  243.;  morocco,  £2  2s. 

The  Life  of  Christ. 

By  the  Rev.  F.  W.  FARRAR,  D.D.,  F.R.S.,  Canon  of  Westminster, 
and  Chaplain  in  Ordinary  to  the  Queen. 

Library  Edition.  2%th  Edition.  Two  Vols.,  cloth,  243.  ; 
morocco,  £2  25. 

Illustrated  Edition.  With  about  300  Illustrations.  Extra 
crown  4to,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  2 is.;  calf  or  morocco,  £2  23. 

THE    NEW    BIBLE    COMMENTARY. 

New     Testament     Commentary    for    English 

Readers.  Edited  by  C.  J.  ELLICOTT,  D.D.,  Lord  Bishop  of 
Gloucester  and  Bristol.  Three  Vols.,  cloth,  £3  33. ;  or  in  half 
morocco,  £4  145.  6d. 

VOL.  I.  contains  THE  FOUR  GOSPELS.    £1  is. 

VOL.  II.  contains  THE  ACTS  to  GALATIANS.    £1  is. 

VOL.  III.  contains  the  EPHESIANS  to  the  REVELATION.    £i  is. 

The  Half-Guinea  Illustrated  Bible. 

Containing  900  Original  Illustrations.  Crown  4to,  cloth,  IDS.  6d. 
Also  in  Leather  Bindings  in  great  variety. 

The  Bible  Educator. 

Edited  by  the  Rev.  E.  H.  PLUMPTRE,  D.D.  With  about  400 
Illustrations  and  Maps.  Four  Vols.,  6s.  each  ;  also  in  Two  Vols., 
cloth,  2 is. ;  or  in  library  binding,  £i  43. 

The  History  of  Protestantism. 

By  the  Rev.  J.  A.  WYLIE,  LL.D.  With  600  Original  Illustrations. 
Three  Vols.,  4to,  cloth,  £i  75. ;  or  in  library  binding,  £i  IDS. 

Heroes  of  Britain  in  Peace  and  War. 

By  EDWIN  HODDER.  With  about  300  Illustrations.  Two  Vols., 
extra  crown  4to,  cloth,  73.  6d.  each. 

Decisive  Events  in  History. 

Sixth  Thousand.  By  THOMAS  ARCHER.  With  Sixteen  Original 
Illustrations.  Extra  fcap.  410,  cloth  gilt,  55. 

Through  the  Light  Continent;  or,  The  United 

States    in   1877-8.     By  WILLIAM  SAUNDERS.    IDS.  6d. 


Cassell,  Fetter,  Gatyin  <k  Co,  ;   Legate  Hill,  London;   Paris;  and  New   York. 

3 


Selections  from  Cassell,  Fetter -,  Galpin  &  Co's  Volumes  (Continued}. 

Picturesque  Europe. 

Complete  in  Five  Vols.  Each  containing  Thirteen  Exquisite 
Steel  Plates  from  Original  Drawings,  and  nearly  200  Original  Illus- 
trations. With  Descriptive  Letterpress.  Royal  410,  cloth,  gilt 
edges,  £2  25. ;  morocco,  .£5  53.  each. 

Vols.   I.    and  II.   of  PICTURESQUE  EUROPE  contain  GREAT   BRITAIN 
and  IRELAND  complete.     Vols.  ///.,  IV.,  and  V.  describe  the  CONTINENT. 

The  Magazine  of  Art. 

VOL.  III.    With  an  Etching  for  Frontispiece,  and  about  300  Illus- 
trations by  the  best  Artists.     Extra  crown  410,  los.  6d. 
*#»  The  price  of  Vols.  I.  &  //.  has  been  raised  from  "js.  6d.  to  lOs.  6d.  each. 

Character  Sketches  from  Dickens. 

Consisting  of  Six  fac-simile  reproductions,  large  folio  size,  ot 
Drawings  by  FRED  BARNARD.  In  Portfolio,  2 is. 

Morocco  :   Its  People  and  Places. 

By  EDMONDO  DE  AMICIS.  Translated  by  C.  ROLLiN-TiLTON 
With  about  200  Illustrations.  Extra  crown  410,  cloth,  2is. 

American  Painters. 

With  Eighty-three  Examples  of  their  Works  Engraved  on  Wood. 
By  G.  W.  SHELDON.  Demy  410,  cloth,  2 is. 

Longfellow's  Poetical  Works. 

Fine-art  Edition.  Illustrated  throughout  with  Original  Engravings 
by  some  of  the  best  English,  American,  and  Continental  Artists. 
Royal  4to,  handsomely  bound  in  cloth  gilt,  £3  y>. 

The    Great    Painters    of    Christendom,    from 

ClMABUE  to  WlLKIE.     By  JOHN  FORBES-ROBERTSON.     Illustrated 

throughout.   Royal  410,  cloth  elegant,  gilt  edges,  Cheap  Edition ,  2 1 s. 

Our  Own  Country. 

An  Illustrated  Geographical  and  Historical  Description  of  the 
Chief  Places  of  Interest  in  Great  Britain.  Vols.  I.,  II.,  &  III., 
with  upwards  of  200  Illustrations  in  each,  75.  6d.  each. 

The  Dord  Fine  Art  Volumes, 

Published  by  CASSELL,  PETTER,  GALPIN  &  Co.,  comprise— 


£    s.d. 

The  Dore"  Scripture  Gallery  5  10  o 
The  Dore  Gallery  .  .  5  5  o 
The  Dor6  Bible  .  .  .440 
Milton's  Paradise  Lost  .  2  10  o 


£,    s.  d. 

Purgatorio  and  Paradiso  .  2  10  o 
La  Fontaine's  Fables  .  i  10  o 
Don  Quixote  .  .  .  o  15  o 


Dante's  Inferno   .        .        .  2  10  o  |   Fairy  Tales  Told  Again    .  o    50 
*»*  Also  kept  in  morocco  bindings  suitable  for  Presentation. 

Cassell,  Fetter,  Galpin  <L  Co. :  Ludgate  Hill,  London  ;   Paris ;   and  New  York. 


Selections  from  Cassell,  Fetter,  Galpin  &  Co.'s  Volumes  (Continued}. 

The  Wild  White  Cattle  of  Great  Britain. 

An  Account  of  their  Origin,  History,  and  Present  State.  By  the 
late  Rev.  JOHN  STOKER,  M.A.  Illustrated.  Cheap  Edition,  73.  6d. 

Animal  Life  Described  and  Illustrated. 

By  Prof.  E.  PERCEVAL  WRIGHT,  M.D.,  F.L.S.     Cloth,  155. 

Natural  History  of    the    Ancients,    Gleanings 

from   the.     By  Rev.  W.  HOUGHTON,  M.A.    Illustrated.     75.  6d. 

The  World  of  the  Sea. 

Translated  by  Rev.  H.  MARTYN-HART,  M.A,   Illustrated.    IDS.  6d. 

Cassell's  New  Natural  History. 

Edited  by  Prof.  DUNCAN,  M.B.,  F.R.S.,  assisted  by  Eminent 
Writers.  Illustrated  throughout.  Vols.  I.,  II.,  III.,  &  IV.,  93.  each. 

The  Book  of  the  Horse. 

By  S.  SIDNEY.  With  Twenty-five  Coloured  Plates,  and  100  Wood 
Engravings.  New  and  Revised  Edition.  Demy  4to,  cloth,  3 1  s.  6d. ; 
half-morocco,  £2  2s. 

The  Illustrated  Book  of  Poultry. 

By  L.  WRIGHT.  With  50  Coloured  Plates,  and  numerous  Wood 
Engravings.  Demy  4to,  cloth,  313.  6d.;  half-morocco,  £2  2s. 

The  Illustrated  Book  of  Pigeons. 

By  R.  FULTON.  Edited  by  L.  WRIGHT.  With  Fifty  Coloured 
Plates,  and  numerous  Engravings.  Demy  4to,  cloth,  313.  6d.  ; 
half-morocco,  £2  2s. 

Canaries  and  Cage-Birds,  The  Illustrated  Book 

of.  With  Fifty-six  Coloured  Plates,  and  numerous  Illustrations. 
Demy  4to,  cloth,  353. ;  half-morocco,  £2  53. 

Louis  Figuier's  Popular  Scientific  Works. 

New  and  Cheaper  Editions.  Containing  all  the  Original  Illustra- 
tions, the  TEXT  REVISED  AND  CORRECTED,  price  75.  6d.  each : — 

The  Human  Race.    Revised  by  ROBERT  WILSON. 

Mammalia.     Revised  by  Professor  E.  PERCEVAL  WRIGHT,  M.D. 

The  World  Before  the  Deluge.   Revised  by  W.  H.  BRisxow.F.R.S. 

The  Ocean  World.    Revised  by  Prof.  E.  PERCEVAL  WRIGHT,  M.D. 

Reptiles  and  Birds.    Revised  by  Captain  PARKER  GILLMORE. 

The  Insect  World.     Revised  by  Professor  DUNCAN,  M.B.,  F.R.S. 

The  Vegetable  World.     Revised  by  an  Eminent  Botanist. 

The  Gun  and  its  Development;   with  Notes  on 

Shooting.  By  W.  W.  GREENER.  Extra  fcap.  4to,  with  500 
Illustrations,  2 is. 

Cassell,  Fetter,  Galpin  &  Co. :  Ludgate  Hill,   London  ;  Paris ;    and  New   York. 


Selections  from  Cassell,  Fetter,  Galpin  &  Co.'s  Volumes  (Continued'). 

The  Encyclopaedic  Dictionary. 

By  ROBERT  HUNTER,  MA,  F.G.S.,  Mem.  Bibl.  Archasol.  Soc.,  &c. 
A  New  and  Original  Work  of  Reference  to  all  the  Words  in  the 
English  Language,  with  a  Full  Account  of  their  Origin,  Meaning, 
Pronunciation,  and  Use.  Vols.  I.  and  II.,  cloth,  IDS.  6d.  each. 

Library  of  English  Literature. 

Edited  by  Prof.  HENRY  MORLEY.  With  Illustrations  taken  from 
Original  MSS.,  &c.  Each  Vol.  complete  in  itself. 

VOL.      I.  SHORTER  ENGLISH  POEMS.     123.  6d. 

VOL.    II.  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  ENGLISH  RELIGION,     us.  6d. 

VOL.  III.  ENGLISH  PLAYS,     us.  6d. 

VOL.  IV.  SHORTER  WORKS  IN  ENGLISH  PROSE,     us.  6d. 

VOL.  V.  LONGER  WORKS  IN  ENGLISH  VERSE  AND  PROSE, 
us.  6d. 

Dictionary  of  English  Literature. 

Being  a  Comprehensive  Guide  to  English  Authors  and  their  Works. 
By  W.  DAVENPORT  ADAMS.  720  pages,  extra  fcap.  410.  cloth,  ios.6d. 

A  First  Sketch  of  English  Literature. 

By  Professor  HENRY  MORLEY.   Crown  8vo,  912  pages,  cloth,  73.  6d. 

Dictionary  of  Phrase  and  Fable. 

Giving  the  Derivation,  Source,  or  Origin  of  20,000  Words  that 
have  a  Tale  to  Tell.  By  Rev.  Dr.  BREWER.  Enlarged  and 
Cheaper  Edition,  cloth,  35.  6d. 

The  Leopold  Shakspere. 

The  Poet's  Works  in  Chronological  Order,  and  an  Introduction 
by  F.  J.  FURNIVALL.  With  about  400  Illustrations.  Small  410, 
los.  6d.  Dedicated  by  permission  to  H.R.H.  PRINCE  LEOPOLD. 

Cassell's  Illustrated  Shakespeare. 

Edited  by  CHARLES  and  MARY  COWDEN  CLARKE.  With  600 
Illustrations  by  H.  C.  SELOUS.  Three  Vols.,  cloth  gilt,  £$  35. 

The  Practical  Dictionary  of  Mechanics. 

Containing  15,000  Drawings,  with  Comprehensive  and  TECHNICAL 
DESCRIPTION  of  each  Subject.  Three  Volumes,  cloth,  £3  35. 

Sketching  from  Nature  in  Water-Colours. 

By  AARON  PENLEY.  With  Illustrations  in  Chromo-Lithography, 
after  Original  Water-Colour  Drawings.  Super-royal  410,  cloth,  153. 

Studies  in  Design. 

By  CHRISTOPHER  DRESSER,  Ph.D.,  F.L.S.,  &c.    Cloth,  £3  35. 

Great  Industries  of  Great  Britain. 

Complete  in  Three  Vols.,  with  about  400  Illustrations.  Extra 
crown  410,  320  pages,  cloth,  73.  6d.  each. 

Cassell,  Fetter,  Galpin  ft  Co. :  Ludgate  Hill,  London  ;   Fart's ;   and  New  York. 


Selections  from  Cassell,  Fetter,  Galpin  &  Co.'s  Volumes  (Continued). 

The  International  Portrait  Gallery. 

Containing  Portraits  in  Colours,  executed  in  the  best  style  of 
Chromo- Lithography,  of  the  Distinguished  Celebrities  of  Foreign 
Nations,  with  Biographies  from  authentic  sources.  Complete  in 
Two  Volumes,  demy  4to,  cloth  gilt,  125.  6d.  each. 

The  National  Portrait  Gallery. 

Complete  in  Four  Volumes.  Each  containing  20  Portraits,  printed 
in  the  best  style  of  Chromo-Lithography,  of  our  most  Distinguished 
Celebrities,  witlvaccompanying  Memoirs.  Cloth  gilt,  123.  6d.  each. 

European  Ferns :  their  Form,  Habit,  and  Cul- 
ture. By  JAMES  BRITTEN,  F.L.S.  With  30  Fac-simile 
Coloured  Plates,  Painted  from  Nature  by  D.  BLAIR,  F.L.S. 
Demy  4to,  cloth  gilt,  gilt  edges,  2 is. 

Familiar  Wild  Flowers. 

FIRST  and  SECOND  SERIES.  By  F.  E.  HULME,  F.L.S.,  F.S.A.  With 
Forty  Coloured  Plates  and  Descriptive  Text.  123.  6d.  each. 

Familiar  Garden  Flowers. 

FIRST  SERIES.  By  SHIRLEY  HIBBERD.  With  Forty  Full-page 
Coloured  Plates  by  F.  E.  HULME,  F.L.S.  123.  6d. 

Science  for  All. 

VOLS.  I.,  II.,  and  III.  Edited  by  Dr.  ROBERT  BROWN,  M.A., 
F.L.S.,  &c.,  assisted  by  Eminent  Scientific  Writers.  Each  con- 
taining about  350  Illustrations  and  Diagrams.  Extra  crown  4to, 
cloth,  gs.  each. 

The  Field  Naturalist's  Handbook. 

By  the  Rev.  J.  G.  WOOD  and  THEODORE  WOOD.    Cloth,  53. 

The  Races  of  Mankind. 

By  ROBERT  BROWN,  M.A.,  Ph.D.,  F.L.S.,  F.R.G.S.  Complete 
in  Four  Vols.,  containing  upwards  of  500  Illustrations.  Extra 
crown  4to,  cloth  gilt,  6s.  per  Vol.  ;  or  Two  Double  Vols.,  £i  is. 

The  Countries  of  the  World. 

By  ROBERT  BROWN,  M.A.,  Ph.D.,  F.L.S.,  F.R.G.S.  Complete 
in  6  Vols.,  with  130  Illustrations  in  each.  4to,  75.  6d.  each, 

The   Sea :    Its   Stirring   Story  of  Adventure, 

Peril,  and  Heroism.  By  F.  WHYMPER.  Complete  in  Four 
Vols.,  each  containing  100  Original  Illustrations.  4to,  75.  6d.  each. 

Illustrated  Readings. 

Comprising  a  choice  Selection  from  the  English  Literature  of  all 
Ages.  With  about  400  Illustrations.  In  Two  Vols.,  cloth,  75.  6d.; 
gilt  edges,  IDS.  6d.  each. 

Cassetl,  Fetter,  Galpin  <&  Co. :  Ludgate  Hill,  London  ;  Paris  ;  and  New   York. 


Selections  from  Cassell,  Fetter,  Galpin  &  Co.'s  Volumes  (Continued). 


The  Family  Physician. 

A  Modern  Manual  of  Domestic  Medicine.  By  PHYSICIANS  and 
SURGEONS  of  the  Principal  London  Hospitals.  Royal  8vo,  cloth,  2is. 

The  Domestic  Dictionary. 

An  Encyclopaedia  for  the  Household.  1,280  pages,  royal  8vo, 
half-roan,  153. 

Cassell's  Household  Guide. 

New  and  Revised  Edition.  With  Illustrations  on  nearly  every 
page,  and  COLOURED  PLATES.  Complete  in  Four  Vols.,  6s.  each. 

A  Year's  Cookery. 

Giving  Dishes  for  Breakfast,  Luncheon,  and  Dinner  for  Every  Day 
in  the  Year,  with  Practical  Instructions  for  their  Preparation.  By 
PHILLIS  BROWNE.  Cloth  gilt,  55. 

The  Ladies'  Physician. 

A  Guide  for  Women  in  the  Treatment  of  their  Ailments.   Cloth,  6s. 

A  Handbook  of  Nursing,  for  the  Home    and 

for  the  Hospital.  By  C.  J.  WOOD,  Lady  Superintendent  of 
the  Children's  Hospital,  Great  Ormond  Street.  Cloth,  y>.  6d. 

Common-Sense  Cookery. 

By  A.  G.  PAYNE.    256  pages,  extra  fcap.  8vo,  cloth,  2s.  6d. 

Common-Sense  Housekeeping. 

By  PHILLIS  BROWNE.    256  pages,  extra  fcap.  8vo,  cloth,  2s.  6d. 

The  Etiquette  of  Good  Society. 

A  Comprehensive  and  Practical  Work  on  the  Etiquette  of  the 
Present  Day.  Cheap  Edition,  Stiff  boards,  is.  ;  cloth,  is.  6d. 

How  Women  may  Earn  a  Living. 

By  MERCY  GROGAN.    Cloth,  is.  6d. 

What  Girls  Can  Do. 

A  Book  for  Mothers  and  Daughters.  By  PHILLIS  BROWNE, 
Author  of  "A  Year's  Cookery,"  &c.  Crown  8vo,  cloth,  55. 

Cassell,   Petter,    Galpin   &   Co.'s    Complete   Catalogue, 

containing  a  List  of  Several  Hundred  Volumes,  including  Bibles  and  Religious 
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